


Prison Soap

by caprilo



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: 69 (Sex Position), Abuse, Abusive Eren Yeager, Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Prison, Anal Sex, Bottom Armin Arlert, Choking, Domestic Violence, Dominant Eren Yeager, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Face-Fucking, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Older Eren Yeager, Oral Sex, POV Armin Arlert, Physical Abuse, Prison, Prison Sex, Rape, Rape Aftermath, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sex, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Assault, Threesome - M/M/M, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:53:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 30
Words: 48,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25524703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caprilo/pseuds/caprilo
Summary: After Armin hears screaming coming from his friend's apartment, he winds up covered in blood and convicted of a murder he wasn't even present for. Eyes are on him within the first couple of months at a prison, and manages to survive, but not without the attention of a certain ring leader who has one rule within the heavily locked building..."Don't drop the soap"
Relationships: Armin Arlert & Eren Yeager, Armin Arlert/Eren Yeager, Armin Arlert/Jean Kirstein, Mikasa Ackerman/Original Character(s), Reiner Braun/Bertolt Hoover, Sasha Blouse/Connie Springer
Comments: 62
Kudos: 262





	1. Guilty Crown

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So, I wrote this back in 2016 on Wattpad and only started rewriting Prison Soap this year. I thought that while I'm posting it back onto Wattpad, I would post it here as well! This isn't stealing btw, I'm the official Caprilo from Wattpad.  
> As a general warning to go with my tags, this fanfiction does include multiple rape scenes, domestic violence scenes, and over portrays a very toxic relationship between Eren and Armin. If these are triggering, please do not proceed!

I sat and jittered my legs, playing with my thumbs in my lap. I would've given anything to be free. Free from the gunshots, the lies, the blood-curdling screams, free from it all. I tried to distract myself by focusing on the birds flying outside my window. Sometimes I would leave it open for them to fly in, leaving the seeds I would sneak from the kitchen on the table for them to eat. I stood and walked to the window to do just that.

It was a Sunday afternoon, I was missing church. I was missing a lot of the things I used to do. I used to go to church but that doesn't keep me from praying. I used to take walks with my loved ones but I grew out of that when I was young and impressionable. I thought that nothing could go wrong for me. Sadly, I was mistaken.

I jumped when I heard a door click open. It was a sound that I should have been used to but wasn't. I would never be used to that same door click nor the clicking of the heels on my hardwood floor. She would see me every day at exactly twelve-fifteen in the afternoon on the dot, and today was no different.

"Hello again, Mr. Arlert–"

"Jäger," I interrupted her. "I told you to call me Jäger."

"Yes, I remember but I'm forced to read the name off of these legal documents. I will try to remember for next time. For now, I want to know if you're doing well," she explained. "Have you been eating?"

"Yes."

"Keeping up proper hygiene?"

"Yes."

"Any more nightmares?"

That's what I was waiting for her to ask. "Yes... It's those pills you give me. The side effects are crazy."

"Armin, I think we both know it's not the pills that are giving you the nightmares-"

"But it's the answer you're going to have to deal with."

She groaned. "Must you be so uncooperative today?"

"Probably the fault of those crazy pills," I remarked.

"It's a court-ordered request and you must follow it through, no matter what. Now..." She leaned forward in her chair. "Tell me about these nightmares. I can only assume it's flashbacks from your time as a sex slave..."

I leaned against the window sill and drew in a shaking breath, and everything flooded back to me. I barely knew where to start, but it was so clear in my head. I just didn't know how to begin. I picked the days that made the most sense and started from there. "Okay..."

**. . .**

"Has the jury made a decision?" asked the judge as she turned to face the crowd of people standing off to the side.

"We have, your honour," one of the jury members stated. "On the charge of sexual assault in the first degree, we find the defendant not guilty. On the charge of murder in the first degree, we find the defendant guilty."

I stood there, shocked at these words I had never hoped to hear. I heard gasps and insults being thrown around, almost like candy. I knew I could try to explain my reason for my current position, but I just kept quiet. Those imbeciles fed off of that candy. I knew that I was done for.

"Mr. Arlert, you will be sentenced to life in federal prison with the chance for parole after twenty-five years. Your case is dismissed," the judge finished as she stood.

I was escorted out of the courtroom, away from the crying family of the recently deceased. The family I saw was the girl's parents, a stoic blonde male, and a woman with anger written all over her face. The man I didn't know, but the others I knew. I knew them well. Krista and I went to the same church and lived next door to each other. She was a precious angel who was on her way to heaven as most people on this earth. Her life was cut short after one night out. She was about to be married as well.

"Ymir, I didn't kill her! You have to believe me!" I started shouting, but all she did was grimace at me as she shook her head.

As I was pulled out, I caught a glimpse of someone with black hair in a trench coat watching me. I couldn't make out his face, there was something off about him. I didn't want to keep staring at him. I didn't have to any longer because I was then thrown out of the courtroom.

 _What did I do to deserve this God?_ I asked Him, the only one who could help me in this crisis. _What did I do?_

I couldn't stop thinking about that last moment I had seen her alive. She said that she couldn't wait for the next bible study session. She would always gloat about her upcoming marriage too and how her fiance was the one. Then, I let her walk into her apartment and found her dead on the floor.

_I said a little prayer and went to my room after putting my plate away. I threw some pyjamas on and walked back out to my living room to watch Grace Unplugged for the fifth time before clocking out for the night._

_Just as I was about to finally sleep for the whole night, I heard a very unsettling noise. I heard a very loud and feminine scream from a neighbouring apartment._

_"Help me! No! No!"_

_I woke up abruptly to the sound of Krista screaming and even cursing, something that I didn't think she would do. I immediately took action and I left my apartment. I didn't want to lose her. I loved her like family. She was the only person I had._

_I walked to her front door and put all my strength into forcing it open, but the door swung open and I fell to the floor with a loud thud. I stood up and turned on whatever light I could find, which happened to be the kitchen light. What I saw was a horrible sight. I nearly threw up just looking at her._

I didn't know she would be murdered but I wasn't expecting everyone to pin the crime on me. I didn't even get a plea deal either, I was just thrown into a courtroom and found guilty of something that I never did. It was heartbreaking that I couldn't even explain my side of the story before being bombarded with false accusations. It looked suspicious though since I was covered in her blood…

_"Oh my god!"_

_I turned around and saw one of our neighbours standing in the doorway. I tried to explain that I just found her like that, but it all came in stuttered letters and syllables. I knew the only thing I could do was wait for the police to arrive and take me away._

_They did come. I was dragged away from Krista as the man and the woman yelled at me. I was dragged to the police car which drove away to jail._

I was on my way to Wall Maria Prison for Men within the next few days on a bus along with some other men, most being a lot more muscular than I ever would be. We were out in a desert area with cracks on the ground and tumbleweeds rolling in the wind. The sun was beating down on my face hard, hard enough that I could ignore any chatter on the bus. The cacti turned into a chain-link fence and stopped in front of a menacing-looking building.

I was shoved off of the bus by one of the guards and was made to lean against the hot metal as they were doing a headcount. I noticed how a few people were whispering about me but I couldn't quite tell what they were saying. Not that it mattered, I wasn't interested in making friends in a male prison.

We were escorted in a single file line by a man named Levi Ackerman to what looked to be the showering area with a table in the middle with orange jumpsuits, white underwear, slip-on shoes, and tanks tops in a variety of colours from black to white and even one pastel pink shirt. One at a time, people grabbed one of each item and found a corner of the room to change in. I managed to not get stuck with the pink shirt and grabbed the last white top on the table and hid near the entrance.

"Look at the fresh meat!" I heard someone yell.

"Is that a girl in the corner?!" Someone yelled at me.

I looked over my shoulder as I pulled up my jumpsuit, seeing three men with their heads poking through the entrance, two salivating in my general direction and one staring at me intently. I locked eyes with the one looking at me as I slipped my shoes on and noticed the colour of his eyes and hair. His eyes had an emerald tint to them while his hair was a rich hue of brunette. Sadly, this didn't last long as they were dragged away by a couple of supervising guards.

I felt a shiver run down my spine. _Creepy... I'm not here to make friends…_

Once everyone was dressed, we were all led on a tour of the prison with the first place being the cafeteria and the last place being the cells we had to sleep in. I was given my cell first and sat down on the twin mattress. This would be my home for the next twenty-five years but I knew it wouldn't be comfortable.

"You'll all be expected to be awake by seven-thirty every morning, be ready to shower by eight and then in the cafeteria for breakfast at precisely eight-thirty. Then it'll be your daily physical activity at nine and then back to the cafeteria for lunch at eleven-thirty. Afterwards, you will be working your shifts for your jobs if you choose to have one or it will be your free time. Then, it's back in the cafeteria for supper at five o’clock, then to the showers before finally going back to your cells for the rest of the night and the whole process starts over the next morning," Levi explained. "If you have any questions, feel free to stop by my office."

After that, everyone was left to their own devices and while most people walked around for a bit, I stayed in my cell. People seemed to be mingling with each other, and making friends wasn't on the twenty-five-year-long agenda. All I had to do was survive, obey, and get out, plain and simple.


	2. Nauseating Brunette

"Hey, girly! Lemme get a piece of that ass!"

I groaned as I inched myself closer to the cafeteria buffet line. I had only been in prison for a month and I was already receiving multiple forms of harassment from cat-calling to shoving and even petty name-calling. I always did my best to ignore it whenever it happened but other times it made me feel insecure. The guards wouldn't even step in either since they thought it was just harmless banter.

I managed to get my lunch and looked for a seat somewhere. There weren't any empty tables and it wasn't like I could leave the cafeteria and eat in the bathroom like in high school. I had to sit somewhere but I had to be careful and pick wisely or else I'd be stuck eating on the floor.

"I didn't know they were making this place co-ed." It was the same guys from the lunchline. They had followed me around as I tried to find a spot, yelling obscene things and even tried to touch me a couple of times too. Again, no one was doing anything about it and it seemed that ignoring the problem wasn't going to help.

"Can you please leave me alone?" I asked. "I'm not a girl."

"Not with that attitude." He slapped my rear, making me stumble and lose my orange juice.

"Hey!" Someone yelled from a few feet away.

I saw someone stand up and walk over to us with a scowl and a familiar set of features. Then I made the connection; it was the same man from the incident from the previous month, the one with the emerald eyes.

"Step the fuck back," he said, ushering me behind him.

"Or what? You gonna hit me?" The convict said with a demeaning tone of voice. "Gonna rape me like your buddy did to that little boy? Gonna kill me afterwards too?"

Presumably, the brunette's friend stood in front of me. "He was fourteen for God's sakes, now you better step the fuck back or I'll rip the veins out of your arms. Can't get high on heroin if you don't have somewhere to stick the needle."

"I'm just gonna go sit down," I muttered as I walked to their table.

"How about I shove my needles up your ass, faggot?"

This was when the fists started flying and the brawling began. The guards managed to stop it before things got too ugly and had to haul the junkie out as he screamed profanities and death threats at the three of us.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

"No problem. Just don't pay attention next time. They haven't seen anything remotely feminine looking in five years," said the brunette man as he sat beside me and his friend across from me. "What's your name?"

"None of your business."

"Okay, none of your business, I'm Eren."

I looked back at Eren. He had his hand extended to me and he barely touched his food. I sighed and shook his hand. "I just wanna eat my lunch and pretend that never happened, okay?"

"Is that your last name?" He smirked.

"Okay, okay," I groaned. "It's Armin. Armin Arlert. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna finish eating."

"I'm Jean, by the way, the one who had  _ consensual  _ sex with an alleged fourteen-year-old," Eren's friend interjected.

"There is nothing consensual or alleged about any of that," I remarked, earning a smirk from Eren.

"Okay listen here you little shit," Jean laughed as he reached over the table to slap me.

I ended up talking a lot more than I thought I was going to, a lot more than I wanted to actually. Everyone at the table was friendly and easy to talk to, and I learned a lot about his friends and their stories. Connie Springer was incarcerated for drug dealing while Reiner and Bertolt were arrested for armed robbery. Eren didn't say much about what happened and I assumed he wasn't comfortable talking about it so I didn't press about the issue.

"We've been doing all the talking but now I wanna know what happened to you," Connie said. "Come on, spill the beans!"

I felt a wave of anxiety hit me and I started picking at the corn I had left on my tray. "Well I– it's hard to explain."

"Crimes aren't hard to explain, and we won't judge you," Bert said, smiling at me. "Everyone here took the wrong turn on their way to church."

"Yeah, what he said," Reiner second.

I inhaled deeply, preparing for the worst reaction I could receive. "I-"

"He was framed for a murder," Eren spoke up, finishing his lunch. "I heard it from the guy who runs this place, that you were found in a girl's apartment covered in blood holding the murder weapon and that your only connection was that you and she were neighbours and went to the same church. They bought it, but I don't."

The buzzer rang throughout the room and it was time for labour work to start. I was assigned as a librarian because of how terrible I was at lifting and fixing things. I didn't mind though since the library had a copy of the bible that I could read when I was finished.

I grabbed books from the cart and started putting them away based on the Dewey decimal system. It was as quiet as it usually was, and I was the only one there. It wasn't a section of the prison that was used often and I would always be finished sorting and stocking books in ten minutes. Afterwards, I would sit down at a table with a pile of books and read for a few hours. I grabbed a worn-in copy of The Shining along with some other favourites of mine and sat down at a table in the back corner with my pile of books and turned to the first page, letting myself forget that I was ever locked up...

"Oi! Armin!"

I woke up, startled from the sudden yelling and shaking. Eren was standing beside me as I looked behind him to check the time. It was well over halfway into my free time, meaning that I had missed supper. "What's going on?" I groggily asked.

"We need to get back to our cells before that Ackerman guy notices that you've been gone for nearly six hours!" He pulled me to my feet and dragged me down to the cells.

We managed to get there before the guards started checking on us. We were snickering and smiling like schoolboys as we were standing outside of our cells. His cell was across from mine and looked like it was for double occupancy, unlike mine which was about the size of a large broom closet. The guards glared at us as they each walked by doing their counts, but that only made me laugh even more.

"All right, you can all head into your cells for the night!"

I managed to control my giggling and laid down on my bed as the bars closed, locking everybody in for the night. Eren was still standing with his arms extended through the holes as he leaned against his door. He gestured for me to come over as he softly spoke, "The guards won't be back for an hour."

I stood up and leaned against the bars the same way he did. "How come this place doesn't have cameras?"

"It's for privacy reasons. That's why there aren't any cameras in the bathroom either," he explained. "It's merely a formality."

I answered back with, "Really? I would assume they want to know what everyone is up to at all times."

"Say that a little louder, why don't you," Eren joked, standing up straight and stretching his arms to the sky.

I shrugged in response, leaning against the wall. At that point, I knew I should have been used to prison life. I wasn't though, I wasn't at all. I was used to getting up early on a Sunday for church or to go for a run in the morning. I was losing my mind behind that chain-link fence and I couldn't do anything to stop it.

"Hey, daydreamer, I'm talking to you," Eren said, and I looked over at him. "Do you do that a lot? Just stare off into space?"

"I only started doing it when I got here. It's probably just a coping mechanism to deal with the fact that I'm stuck here for at least twenty-five years," I sighed.

"I think sleep and a sense of realism would be better," he stated. "I hear you walking around in there at night talking to yourself, saying you're only here for a short while. Twenty-five years isn't short, especially for some church boy like yourself, so the quicker you drill it into your head that you're stuck here the better your stay here will be."

"I figured you would have said to try new things or have fun while I'm here. I'm glad you didn't," I disclosed with a smile.

He nodded and walked to his bed. "Now get some sleep. I heard Levi was going to wake everybody up early tomorrow to make us do fitness drills."

"One question though," I almost didn't want to ask but the signals I was getting from him were stronger than my willpower. "Are we friends now?"

"Friends? What is this, primary school?" He chuckled, laying down on his pillow.

I rolled my eyes. "It was just a question, Eren."

"You know what? Sure, we can be friends. Hell, you're already in with the guys I sit with so why not make it official," he insisted rudely. "Now sleep. It'll make things better for you in the long run."

I shook my head in annoyance and walked to my bed. Though his advice was technically correct, he failed to mention how cheap my mattress and pillow was. I ended up laying awake for an hour before I started to even remotely feel sleepy and turned over onto my side and shut my eyes as all the lights went out. From what Eren was saying, tomorrow was going to be a long day.


	3. New Rules, I Count 'em

Like Eren had mentioned the night before, everyone had to be up at six sharp. I was already up before everyone else and talked to Eren who was also awake about what would happen so that way I had a heads-up on how everything that day was going to go. He wasn't much help but he did inform me of the types of exercises Mr. Ackerman would be measuring.

"Military drills?" I repeated.

"It's for strength and agility and all that," Eren explained. "He does this every few months or so to see who he can ship off to the military. Fewer mouths to feed means less money spent on prisoners' wellbeing."

"That's smart if you think about it, even if it is only about money. I already know I'll fail," I said, leaning against the wall.

"I mean, I wouldn't want you to leave. I like having you around."

I caught Eren blushing a little bit but decided to not say anything about it, figuring that he just wasn't comfortable showing his emotions. "You don't have to worry about that, I'd never survive in the military."

I heard someone yawn a few feet to my right and saw someone sleepily walking to their cell door, seeing it was Jean with a tired scowl on their face. "Why the fuck are you guys awake?"

"Military drills today, remember?" Eren responded, sticking his head through the bars to look at him.

"That's today? But it's only November," Jean yawned.

"I guess he's doing it a month early?" I suggested. "What if he catches us talking to each other though?"

"The guards don't care if we talk to each other, as long as we don't leave our cells during the night," Jean explained, leaning against the bars. "But if you woke me up earlier than I had to, I'm gonna bury you in the lot out back."

"Hey, you woke up on your own accord," Eren said, getting defensive.

"Shut the fuck up over there!" Someone whispered from beside me.

Connie poked his head out between the bars and glared at us. "Why the fuck are you guys awake?"

"Military drills," the three of us said simultaneously.

"Stop it with the shining twins routine and go the fuck to sleep. It's next month," Connie snapped and disappeared into the shadows of his cell.

I looked over at Eren who looked like he was recalculating something. "Did you mess up the dates for when we had to be awake?"

"No!" he replied defensively.

"Eren, I'm going to kill you if you woke us up for no fucking reason," Jean scowled.

"Fine, I might have gotten the month wrong–"

"I'm going to poison you at breakfast, you know that?" Jean threatened.

I rolled my eyes and let them argue why I went back to my bed to get an extra hour and a half of sleep that I desperately needed. I had a hunch that trusting Eren wasn't the best idea but he was my only ally in the penitentiary so it wasn't like I had any other choice. I sighed at my own stupidity as well as Eren's and drifted back to sleep to the sound of Eren and Jean arguing to no end.

"Okay, everybody up!" Someone yelled not even ten minutes later.

Thankfully I hadn't gotten to sleep and sat up as the electronic doors opened and guards were banging on walls with their nightsticks and shouting for everyone to wake up. I complied and walked and stood right outside my cell. I looked at Eren who looked just as surprised as I did and the one guard's explanation clarified everything and Eren ended up being right about the military drills.

"I will never doubt you again," Jean said as we followed through the hallway.

"Just don't poison my food or bury me in the lot and we'll call it even," Eren chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for not believing you the first time," I apologized but Eren only shrugged.

"Wait up!" I heard Connie yell from a distance.

He caught up with us, along with Bertolt and Reiner, and the six of us all chatted as we were escorted outside to the basketball court. Training equipment like obstacles, ropes, tires, and even a muddy trench had been set up to look exactly like a military training course.

"Gentlemen, welcome to our fitness test," Mr. Ackerman said as he gestured to the disastrous obstacle course behind him. "Since we have new people here, I'll explain. The warden requires that you all meet the minimum standards of physical health for your ages."

"I thought he was the warden?" I whispered to Eren.

"He's his second in command," Eren answered. "I've only ever seen the warden once but I never caught his name."

"You two over there, be quiet!" he snapped at us. "So every few months you each will run through the course in under a certain amount of time depending on your age and current weight, with the average time being five minutes to complete this course and the quickest being under a minute."

"Under a minute? Who set that record?" I whispered to the guys.

"None other than yours truly–" Connie boasted.

"Not another word Connie or I'll have you thrown into solitary, and that goes for the next person who thinks talking is a good idea," Mr. Ackerman threatened. "To wrap up, you will all go in alphabetical order with all the new people going first unless we have any volunteers. Armin Arlert, that means you're first."

"Good luck, pipsqueak," Jean laughed, shoving me to the front of the crowd.

I sighed, Let's just get this over with…

I went to the starting line and ran when a buzzer went off. At that moment, I thought I was doing great but in reality, I was doing terribly. I was tripping on tires, slipping down ropes, and tumbling down the last hill all while Mr. Ackerman yelled at me. I barely made it out alive by the time I crossed the finish line and the buzzer went off again.

"You finished in nine minutes and fifty-six seconds! That's the longest it's ever taken someone to finish this course! Get into shape for the next time!"

He shoved me back towards the crowd and I stumbled to my friends and fell into Eren's arms. "I am never doing that again."

"Just start training during your free time instead of reading and you won't fail as hard," Eren laughed. "Let's get you to a bench."

I staggered over to the bleachers and sat down as I caught my breath. I watched the other prisoners fly through the course with ease and get amazing scores, the most impressive being that Connie broke his record by three seconds. I watched the guys go next, feeling mildly inferior to them. Jean was fast, Reiner was strong, Bertolt was agile, and Eren was well-rounded at the entire course. I wanted to be more like them, stronger and faster. I never had any issues with who I was until I was sent to prison.

As soon as everyone was done, we were dismissed to go shower. I picked up a towel and went to the showerhead furthest from the door. The hot water stung for a second but eventually, I adjusted to the temperature and cleaned myself off in harmony. Some of the guys would joke around with each other and talk. I never tried to make conversation with people since I was still used to showering alone at this point and I always finished before everyone else so I didn't have the chance to talk to anyone.

I dried off and wrapped the towel around my waist and walked to the basket to grab a dry jumpsuit. I put it on and walked to the cafeteria and waited for the guys to all be finished. They didn't take much longer with Jean showing up first and the others following suit not long after and we grabbed our breakfast and found a seat near a window.

"Where's Eren?" I wondered.

"Probably blowing some guy for extra cash–"

"Wow, Connie, say that louder, the fucking warden didn't hear you," Reiner snapped.

"Reiner, quit it," Bertolt slapped his arm. "He's still having his shower."

"Is Eren gay?" I whispered.

"No, Connie was just joking or he is grossly misinformed," Jean growled at Connie.

"But I saw him!"

"I should go check on him," I said, standing up.

"Slow down there cowboy," Jean said, pulling me back into my seat. "You don't know the rules of the shower yet."

"What do you mean by rules? I thought you just go in and shower like normal people," I responded.

"There's just a certain etiquette you have to follow around here if you intend to get out unscathed," Jean leaned in closer and changed his tone to a hushed whisper. "Firstly, keep your jumpsuit buttoned up and don't show off your underwear unless you want something. Secondly, don't do favours for people unless you need something done in return. Lastly–"

"Hey, guys!" Eren finally showed up and took a seat beside me.

Jean pulled me closer to him and uttered his final rule, "Don't drop the soap."


	4. Sticky Situation

_ Don’t drop the soap, keep your pants up… What the hell could Jean have meant by all that? _

His words were unsettling and even after a week or so, I still remembered how serious his tone of voice was. It was all I thought about every time I stepped into that shower for any purpose. I was in-between feelings of disbelief that rules exist for the showers and vibrant fear at what those rules meant. Not even my librarian job could distract me from the thoughts swarming my head.

I was finished in the nick of time and decided to go for a run rather than read since running helped me to calm down. I punched out, grabbed a sweater and walked to the basketball court. A little fresh air would do me some good, and I could get stronger as well.

I walked by the basketball court and saw that a game was going on between Connie and Jean. I took a seat next to Eren and watched as Connie tried to take control of the court.

“What’s the score?” I asked Eren.

“Currently it’s fourteen to eight in Jean’s favour, but Connie isn’t giving up that easily,” he replied. “I’m not very good at basketball but I love watching the guys play each other.”

“I’m assuming you all finished work early?” I guessed.

“No, most of us had a free day since we had to run that massive obstacle course,” Eren explained. “You should have gotten the day off as well.”

“I wasn’t told to take the day off, so I went to work. I guess my work is less stressful on the body?”

Eren shrugged. “I guess so. It would have been better if you were with me earlier though.”

“Eren, I have a job to do, even if I only get fifty cents an hour.”

“That’s not what I meant. I thought maybe having you around would make things more fun for me, and maybe I could learn a thing or two from you as friends do,” he insisted.

I smiled back only to be distracted by the incoherent shouting coming from the basketball court. I turned Eren’s attention to Connie who was trying to fight Jean and I could hear him snicker a little. Connie threw his hands up and yelled some choice words before sitting on the bench as Jean basked in the glory of defeating a short man at a game made for people taller than six feet.

“Would anyone else like to have a shot at defeating me?” He smirked, earning only silence from the crowd. “What? No takers? Worried you’ll be defeated like the last four men?”

“Last four?” I whispered to Eren.

“Yep, and he’s acting like he’s the king of the fucking court,” he replied.

I stood up. “I guess we’ll have to change that.”

“Armin, what are you–”

“Don’t bother, Eren. Let him experience defeat,” Jean was starting to get on my nerves.

“We’ll see about that,” I replied, standing at the center of the court.

Reiner threw the ball up and Jean and I both lunged for it. I managed to grab it before he could and dribbled the ball as I ran around him and threw it up towards the net, sinking it through the basket. Jean didn’t even get the chance to move before I had scored a point.

“What?” I said. “Didn’t think I was any good at this?”

“What? No! I let you win that one!” He replied, clearly upset.

“Looks like Jean may have met his match!” Connie yelled from the stands.

“Shut the fuck up!” Jean yelled back. “We’ll see who comes out on top!”

I threw the ball back to Reiner who set us up for the second play and then the third and fourth ones after that. Jean never even had a chance to get the ball before I would sink it through the net. Everyone was rooting for me, especially the people that had been defeated by Jean with Connie being the loudest of the bunch and Eren being just as loud. I had scored twenty-two points and left Jean with an angry look on his face.

“Gonna call it quits yet or are you still too stubborn to accept defeat,” I yelled at him, bouncing the basketball with my left hand.

“So you can’t just leave murdering people to the outside world, can you?” He retorted. “I refuse to accept defeat to someone like you!”

“How endearing, you stubborn loud-mouth!” I threw the ball back to Reiner. “This game is finished whether you like it or not.”

I sat with Eren as a few other people got teams going and played against one another. He was staring at me even as I watched the other game go. I turned and my eyes met with his teal orbs. I curled an eyebrow at him and flexed a smile.

“I’m good at basketball,” I explained to him. “It’s the only sport that I enjoyed playing as a kid and I got pretty good at it, despite being short.”

“You’re not even that short though,” he assured me. “Connie, on the other hand, is short. He’s about the height of my last girlfriend.”

“So you’re not gay?” I asked.

Eren furrowed his brows. “No? I never said I was straight either though. Did the guys tell you that?”

“Connie made a joke about you being late yesterday and it made me wonder about some things…”

“Everyone back inside! Get something to eat before you hit the showers!” a guard monitoring the game yelled.

Both Eren and Jean kept their distance from me for different reasons. Jean being petty didn’t hurt as much as Eren distrusting me. I had worked hard to build something with him and one stupid question sent all my hard work down the drain. It was like he was offended that I asked him if he was gay. It isn’t something people should be offended by but not everyone was as accepting as I was.

We all sat down at our table and ate in silence for a few minutes until Jean spoke up, “We really should play again though.”

“As long as you won’t be annoying if you lose,” I replied, bumping fists with him.

“You  _ gotta  _ teach me how to play like that!” Connie insisted.

Eren wouldn’t speak to me while Jean apologized for being childish. I didn’t care about what Jean was doing though; all I wanted was Eren’s attention. It made having supper feel as awkward as bringing your girlfriend to meet your parents for the first time.

“I’m going to shower now,” Eren said, standing up with his empty tray. “I’ll see you guys later.”

I waited for him to walk far enough away before I turned back to the guys, “I think I offended him earlier.”

“What did you say exactly?” Reiner asked.

“I asked him if he was gay and he didn’t exactly answer me,” I replied. “He’s been giving me the cold shoulder ever since.”

“That’s because he isn’t gay, he’s pan,” Bertolt explained.

“Pan?” I said, confused.

“Pansexual,” Jean explained further. “He, Bert, Reiner and I all work the same job and when the topic of girlfriends and our sex lives came up, he told us about his life in high school. He’s just tired of people assuming he’s gay.”

“I’m gonna go apologize to him then,” I said, taking my empty tray to the rack.

“He’ll get over it–” Jean insisted.

“But I won’t,” I informed him and took off to the shower.

I walked down to the showers, avoiding every guard that I saw so I didn’t have to explain what I was doing. I walked into the room and saw Eren having a shower and I froze. I was completely mesmerized by his appearance. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen before (I was in a male prison after all) but this time there was an eerie tension between us.

“Are you gonna stare at me all day or are you going to apologize?” Eren asked as he washed his hair. “You don’t have to. I know you didn’t mean it.”

It was hard to keep concentration with him as he ran his fingers through his hair. I got undressed and took the showerhead that was furthest from him and fiddled with the water temperature until it was just right and lathered myself with my soap bar. I would look back at Eren from time to time and often caught him looking at me. Knowing that he was pansexual made me feel slightly at ease. It was just common knowledge amongst both of us now.

I ended up getting so distracted that I lost my grip on the soap and it hit the floor with a loud crash. I crouched to the floor and thought nothing of it until I stood up and felt a pair of hands on my waist, keeping me in a bent-over position. That was when I remembered what Jean had said the day before.

_ Oh no… _


	5. E.J.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING!!! THIS IS A RAPE SCENE SO PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION

I felt something poking my rear end and I immediately fought out of the loose grip around my waist and turned around to see Eren standing fairly close to me. “It’s only you. Don’t scare me like that, and don’t get so close.”

“Have you ever wondered why I was sent here?” Eren said ominously.

“No, and now isn’t the time to talk about that so can you please go away?” I stated, turning around to face the running water.

I felt his hands on my body again, this time with a tighter grasp around me and he whispered in my ear, “Because I don’t take no for an answer.”

“What are you even–!”

He gagged me with one of his hands as he snaked the other down my body to my crotch and started biting my neck. I tried to scream through his hand to no avail and thrashed around as much as I could. He wouldn’t let go no matter how much I begged or kicked. He wouldn’t stop touching me even as I cried.

“You taste so sweet,” he whispered as he forced me to the floor. “I wonder what else you taste like.”

“Eren, get off of me I mean it–!” I was gagged again.

He thrust a finger into my backside and I screamed in agony. “I told you already. I don’t take no for an answer.”

I felt him thrust a second finger into me as he started performing oral sex on me. I whimpered and cried out as loud as I could through his hand and then even louder when he replaced his fingers with his phallus and grabbed my wrists and held them above my head. He kept growling for me to stay quiet as he went harder with every thrust.

“Eren, it hurts! Stop!” I yelled through his mouth.

“Then stop being so tense,” he groaned.

“Get off of me or I swear to–”

His hand that was over my mouth slapped me across the face. “Shut the fuck up and stop fighting me.”

I gave up at that point and let him continue. I knew it would stop at one point but each second he spent inside of me hurt more than the last. I focused on the running water to help pass the time more smoothly even if I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I was so numb to everything that was happening that I didn’t even notice when he had finished until he said something.

“We’re _definitely_ making this a regular thing,” he said, pulling me up by the wrists and stabilizing me. “You really _are_ as cute as I thought you would be after getting fucked.”

“Stay the fuck away from me,” I snapped. “I don’t need your compliments.”

“I gave you what you needed, accept it and prepare for next time,” he walked back to his shower and rinsed himself off. “And clean yourself off. It’s not like anyone would believe you anyway.”

I felt a pain shoot through my body with every step I took but I managed to clean myself and grab a towel. I dried off quickly and noticed that my legs were stained with blood and had transferred onto the towel. I felt around for where the bleeding could have been coming from and lifted my fingers from my backside to find a disturbing amount of blood on them.

“Why were you so rough?!” I practically screamed.

“I’ll have lube for the next time then,” he replied nonchalantly.

“There won’t be a next time–”

“Are you retarded or something?” He grabbed my arm. “I don’t–”

“Take no for an answer, I got it,” I pulled away from him. “You don’t have to be such a jerk about it.”

“If you were a better bitch then I wouldn’t have to be so rough,” he replied, biting his lip. “Although, I do like it rough, especially with innocent boys like you.”

That line made my skin crawl. I felt disgusting, worthless even. He wanted to hurt me, he probably wanted to from the first moment he saw me, and he got away with it.

Soon other people were rolling in and I quickly covered myself with the towel. Jean and others started to worry about all of the blood on my towel but I told them that I had cut my leg and that they didn’t have to worry. Jean didn’t look too convinced but didn’t pry any further and I got my bleeding under control and got dressed.

I ran to my cell before anyone could question me and sat on my bed. I had stopped running but I still needed air. The rape replayed in my mind over and over and I couldn’t turn it off. I didn’t want to remember any of it, but it was like I was being forced to relive it all, down to the last detail.

 _It hurts, God. Why does it hurt so much?_ He was the only person I could turn to in this dark hour. _Make it stop. Please make it stop..._

I didn’t get a wink of sleep that night, or any other night for the next few weeks. I would watch the snowfall outside the windows, zoning out and recalling Eren’s breath and his touch. It made me feel gross like my body wasn’t mine anymore. Eren took that away from me and he intended on doing it again.

“Mind if I have some?” Jean asked.

“Go ahead,” I replied, sliding my tray over to him. “You can have the rest if you want.”

“Armin is sharing his food? Pass some over to me!” Connie said, reaching over Jean with his spoon.

Eren was looking at me from across the table with a mischievous smile on his face and I could only assume he was looking to stir up trouble. “Armin, you’ve been quiet for the last few weeks. Why is that?”

He knew I wouldn’t be able to say anything without fear of being ridiculed and Jean chiming in with worried sentiments didn’t help either. “It’s nothing. Bad dreams again.”

“For three weeks? Are you sure it’s just that?” Jean asked. “You can talk to us, Armin. I’m sure we’ve all been through whatever it is you’re–”

“It’s just bad dreams, okay? I don’t wanna talk about it!”

Jean was silent while Eren was putting on a scared face. He was mocking me and I couldn’t be around it anymore. I ended up leaving my tray at the table and took off to my job. Being allowed to opt-out of working out when I was stressed was helpful, especially since books calmed my nerves more than brawn ever could.

I sat down at one of the tables near the back with a stack of books by my side and began reading one of those how-to books on survival and living in the woods. Though experiencing something first hand is arguably the best teacher, learning about it beforehand wasn’t a bad idea either. I would study up on topics from gender inequality to learning how to make pasta and other dishes. I needed skills when I got out of prison so whatever I felt would be necessary for my future I studied.

“I knew you’d be in here.”

I nearly jumped out of my seat until I saw it was only Jean. “Hi.”

“What Eren said was out of line, I get that, but don’t run off when he gets like that and stand your ground next time,” he said, sitting down beside me.

He was trying his best to comfort me, and I was thankful for that, but this wouldn’t go away by standing up for myself. “I’m not strong enough.”

“Anyone could take that pussy-whipped bitch in a fight, including you,” he said, making me laugh a little. “Come on. We can hang out without Eren on the basketball court. Besides, you owe me another game.”

I smiled and went to put my books on the return cart for later and followed Jean out to the court and played against Bertolt, Reiner, and Connie. Jean and I ended up completely dominating the game and won by ten points and we had a brief hug to celebrate. Everyone was cheering and some were even challenging us to a round of basketball, though I declined and went to the bleachers and watched Jean and Connie face off against Reiner and Bertolt.

“You two make a really great team.”

My breath hitched and my eyes widened as I felt someone’s hand on my shoulder, holding me in a tight grip. “Eren, what do you want?”

“Another night with you,” he whispered,

“Don’t you dare say that again.” I shot him a glare.

He leaned in closer, holding my face in his hands. “You wouldn’t dare say no. I know you wouldn’t. I have you wrapped around my finger.”

I felt myself start to well up and turned away so he didn’t get the satisfaction of seeing me cry. I looked toward the court and saw that Jean was looking over at me. He read my gaze and immediately paused the game and let me sub in for him. I continued the game while Jean kept Eren busy.

We finished up the last game before heading back inside for lunch with Jean to my right with an arm wrapped loosely around me. “What did he say to you back there?”

I couldn’t bear to tell anyone out loud, nor did I even want to remember everything he did to me. He made me sick to my stomach, so sick that I could only say, “It doesn’t matter…” and left his protection to be completely isolated from everything involving Eren Jäger.


	6. The Only Exception

"You were an MMA fighter?" I asked in a surprised tone.

Connie rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "I was one of the best in Chile too. I even fought in official tournaments here in The States. Until I got in with the wrong crowd and got high on my supply."

"The little pipsqueak is full of surprises," Jean said condescendingly while rubbing Connie's buzzcut. "I was a teacher."

"Hence where he met that little boy," Connie elbowed him lightly with a sly grin.

Jean slapped the back of his head and continued, "He wasn't a student of mine. He cornered me in a bar and wanted sex, and I thought he was legal since he managed to get inside the place. His parents found me in his bed the next morning and I got my one-way ticket to prison."

"That's not suspicious at all," I laughed, turning to Bertolt and Reiner. "What did you guys do before all this happened?"

"Bert and I were actually cashiers at a local grocery store," Reiner answered. "We were roommates too."

"Oh my God, they were roommates," Jean said with a sarcastic tone of voice. "We've been doing all of the talking, so now it's your turn."

"My turn what?" I knew exactly what he meant but I didn't like sharing with people I barely knew.

"Tell us about your life before you were thrown in here," Connie said eagerly.

I sighed and leaned back in my chair. "I worked in banking, helping people with mortgages and loans and all that. It's not much but it's honest work."

"Sounds like a fancy way of saying loanshark if you ask me," Reiner muttered.

I rolled my eyes. "I worked for the Bank of America, you nitwit–"

"And what's with safe words like gosh and nitwit? You can swear here, y' know. This isn't church," Connie said as he scooped up the last of my food.

"I don't swear. It's offensive and frankly, I find that people who swear are somewhat less desirable to be around," I explained. "Like Eren, for example. He swears every five minutes or so and it gets annoying to hear the f-bomb and the p-word all the time."

"It doesn't matter here though. We're not your church friends. We won't rat you out to your priest if you swear a little. Besides, it can help let out whatever you're feeling," Jean's offer seemed tempting but I declined.

A loud screech was heard over the loudspeaker followed by the deep voice of Mr. Ackerman, "Visiting hours are now open and we will call you over to the phones in order of your last name and if someone is visiting you. No one else is allowed over there other than the people receiving visits at that time. The rest of you may work or have some free time. First up..."

"I know I'm not gonna be on this week's list. The only person who would want to see me is my wife and she's in the women's prison a few miles over," Connie said, grabbing both his and my trays.

"You really are full of surprises," I added as I walked with the guys to the door.

I parted ways with them and walked to the library to get some work done. I checked over my shoulder as I turned the corner and entered the library. It was empty as usual, allowing me to work in silence, checking in books and finding good ones to read. I was on a Stephen King binge and grabbed a pile of his books and took them to my usual spot. I flipped through the pages of Christine with ease as I let myself forget my surroundings and only focused on the words on the paper in front of me. Christine was a good read, but it wasn't my favourite book.

I felt a chill run up my spine as someone pulled my hair toward the ground and whispered in my ear, "Hey, handsome."

"Eren, let me go," I said as I fought to get out of his grip. "I'm trying to work."

He pushed me over the table and held me down. "Working hard or hardly working, slut?"

"Don't you dare call me that," I hissed as I pushed with all my might to get up.

"That's it, keep on fighting me," he groaned as I felt him rubbing his crotch up against me.

I nearly vomited as I kicked and swung at him with my fists. I grabbed one of the books I was going to read and threw a blind shot at him. I heard him yelp and felt him remove his hands, I pushed him away from me and ran out the door and back to my cell.

I wasn't safe anywhere. There wasn't a place where I could hide and not be seen by him. He knew my whole schedule, what paths I took to get places, everything. He knew everything and anything that he could use to hunt me down and rape me.

_ Will he kill me? _ I worried as I felt my lungs begin to tighten up.

The rest of the day blurred by as Levi did a check to make sure everyone was in their proper cells on time and commended me for being the first one ready for bed. I saw Eren lick his lips and wink his eye at me, making me look away in disgust. I only felt a little safer when the bar doors slammed shut for the night and I knew that there was no way he could get me unless he shrank himself enough to climb through the bars.

"You were missing in action today, Armin," Jean said, leaning against his cell door. "How was work?"

Eren joined the conversation with a snarky tone, "Yeah, I didn't see much of you either. Why was that?"

I sighed and crossed my arms. "I decided to work through supper. I wasn't really hungry today."

"Funny, I thought I saw you in the library," Eren smirked.

"Eren, do you ever shut the fuck up?! I can't stand it when you try to annoy me with God knows whatever is in your fucked up brain at the time!" I blurted out, immediately regretting it afterwards.

Jean laughed as he clutched his stomach. "Maybe Eren isn't such a bad influence after all!"

"Go the fuck to sleep, Jean," Eren hissed as he sulked in his bed.

"Okay, you little crybaby," Jean teased.

"That felt kinda good," I said, smiling a little bit.

"It's good to let out your emotions like that every once in a while, now I suggest getting some sleep like the little pussy over there is doing," Jean went to his bed and laid down. "It's shovelling season and they make us do it every morning."

"Thanks for the heads up, have a goodnight," I replied, walking back to my bed with a massive grin.

_ Maybe he isn't so bad for me after all... _ At least, that was what I wanted to think until Eren had me pinned down in the showers again just a few days later.

I was bent over with my palms pressed against the wall, ordered to not make any noise or else he would make it hurt more. It wasn't so rough this time around, at least. I barely felt anything, even when he would hit my backside with an open hand. I couldn't tune out any of the noises I heard. The sound of skin slapping and the huskiness of his breath was all I could hear, but I couldn't stop thinking about them. It terrified me how numb I had become to his advances.

With one last thrust, I felt him pull himself out of me with a grunt. "Fuck, you feel so good."

I stood up properly and hauled myself over to the closest shower to turn on the hot water. Eren wasn't far behind me and smacked my butt as he started to clean himself off beside me. Even though I didn't want to speak to him, he struck up a conversation with me.

"Look at all that jizz on your body," he teased.

I looked down and saw the white fluids as that cascaded down my body into the drain below me. "I guess it's mine then."

"You're actually starting to like it, aren't you?" He caressed my face and forced me to look at his devilish smile. "You do like it now. I guess I don't get to pin you down and fuck you senseless anymore."

He pulled me closer and kissed me and all I could do was stand there and let him. I didn't have the energy to fight him anymore, but it was like I wanted him to touch me and wanted him to have sex with me. The desire only grew larger when we were actually in the moment but it often lingered afterwards and dwindled to feelings of emptiness.

I finished up my shower and went to get dressed over at the bench, but Eren grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to him. I felt his hot breath on my neck as he whispered to me, "No one can know about this, no matter how much I egg you on to say it. Those other guys wouldn't understand, not even our friends would understand. You got that?"

Like I was a computer running a program, I kissed his cheek and whispered back, "Yes, Eren..."


	7. Another One Bites The Dust

On and off for the past month, I would always meet with Eren in our usual spot behind the shower wall furthest from the doorway. It was the same thing every time with minor changes according to how much time we had. The only thing that I noticed would change was my feelings for Eren and how I wanted more of him.

This time, Eren was slow and took care of me as I laid on the shower floor. He would caress my face, tuck my hair behind my ear, and kiss my neck with tenderness. He made it feel so good even though it felt so wrong to be this way with him. But then again, it felt so right at the same time.

Eren finished with a soft moan and pulled out of me. He smiled down at me and I reciprocated the smile back to him. I learned that no matter what I was feeling afterwards, I should always smile and give in whenever he wanted more.

“Let’s get you cleaned up, pet,” he said to me.

That was his nickname for me since I was his property. “Yes, Eren.”

I washed his sweat and other fluids off my body as I glanced over at Eren. I had always noticed before he started having sex with me, but Eren was really attractive. He rocked a six-pack of abs and his back muscles were something I strived for myself. His physique only reminded me of how small and skinny compared to him. It was no wonder he could hold me down with ease and force himself on me.

“I made a deal with the guards to allow you to come with me for visitation today,” Eren said, shutting off his shower in sync with me.

“Who are you meeting with?” I asked, following him to get dried off.

“My little sister,” he replied, drying himself off and getting dressed.

Once I was dried off and dressed again, I followed Eren down to the visitation room. He kept a tight grip on my wrist as we walked side by side. It wasn’t uncommon here to be friends with other prisoners but Eren made it very obvious that we were friends, or whatever we were. That was something I needed to ask him, actually, but I could never find the right time.

Eren was called in next and the guard let us both pass through the door. He took a seat in front of an Asian girl wearing a red scarf and picked up the phone and they started to talk to each other. I could only hear Eren’s side of the conversation but could understand what most of the conversation was about.

Mikasa, that was her name, was in university to get her degree in psychology so that she could become a psychiatrist for prisoners like myself and Eren. She was working on a project on the mental health effects of living in a maximum security facility and Eren was the subject of it. She seemed to look up to her big brother, despite his seemingly long prison sentence (Eren was 28 at this time).

“I brought a friend to help you with your project,” he said, pulling me closer and handing me that phone.

“Um, hi,” I nervously greeted her. “I’m Armin.”

“I’ve heard so much about you,” she replied. “Eren doesn’t like a lot of people, but he seems to have warmed up to you fairly quickly.”

I pursed my lips to keep from grinning. “That’s nice to know.”

“So you murdered a girl,” she didn’t beat around the bush when it came to her questions. “Or at least, people thought you murdered a girl. There was a massive amount of evidence stacked against you but all you had to do was say you were asleep when it happened. Why did you let them convict you?”

“I tried to tell them that I wasn’t there when they questioned me but because it seemed so obvious to them, they didn’t believe me,” I explained.

“How long have you been here?” She asked as she jotted down notes onto her paper.

“About four months and I’m stuck here for the rest of my life unless they find the actual guy who did it,” I answered.

“I’m sure they’ll suspect that something’s up at some point,” she reassured me, closing her notebook. “Unfortunately, I need to get to class now but it was nice meeting you, Armin. If you could put Eren back on the phone for me, I’d like to say my goodbyes to him.”

“Of course. It was nice meeting you,” I said and handed the phone back to Eren.

I decided to wait outside the door for Eren and let them finish their conversation in peace. He came back out after a few minutes and handed the guard a sandwich bag filled with white powder before dragging me away from the visitation room by the wrist.

“What did you give him?” I asked.

“My end of the bargain for letting you come to visitation with me,” he replied before taking me to the library. “Let’s do it in here.”

“Eren, wait–!”

I didn’t get the chance to finish before he pulled me to the back of the library and started kissing my neck and pawing at my clothes. I protested numerous times only for him to become more aggressive towards me and hold me down against the table. I had to kick Eren in the stomach to get him to back off.

“Eren now isn’t the best time–”

A slap across the face shut me up and sent me to the floor. I felt the tingling sensation from his hand and looked up to see him staring down at me in anger. I tried to stand, but he held me down by my shoulders and straddled my waist.

“The next time you say no, you’ll be seeing stars,” he growled

“I already was, asshole,” I retorted. “I’m not doing this with you, Eren, now get off of me.”

He tried to punch me this time but I deflected his attack. “Don’t make me say it again, Eren.”

Eren didn’t do anything for the longest time. He only sat on top of me and cast daggers at me with his gaze, but eventually, he got off of me and started to walk away. I took this opportunity to stand up, but as I was on my knees he turned back around and kicked me in the stomach and sent me to the ground once again. From there he repeatedly kicked and punched me until I was black and blue and spitting up blood.

With one final kick to my jaw, he bellowed, “Say no to me again, I dare you,” and left me crying on the library floor.

Jean found me almost an hour later when I hadn’t shown up to the courtyard for our basketball game and brought me to the onsite doctor. She tended to my wounds right away as I could vaguely hear their conversation. Jean was frantic and wanted to wait inside the office but the doctor told him he had to leave. It was all a blur after that and I woke up in a bed with gauze wrapped around different parts of my body, and I tried to sit up but felt a pounding in my head as well as the abdomen that sent me back down.

“Hey, no sitting up,” the doctor said as she laid another pillow under my head. “You took quite a beating.”

“I guess you could say that,” I groaned, clutching my stomach. The metal pin on her lab coat said Petra Ral, and I assumed that it was her first name.

“Who did you piss off?” She asked, writing down on her clipboard. “This clearly wasn’t an accident, and if it was it’s a bizarre one, to say the least.”

“Nobody important, Ms. Ral,” I lied, well mostly lied.

“For nobody important, they clearly thought you were important enough to give a lashing to,” she replied. “I understand if you feel like you can’t rat them out. If it makes you feel more comfortable, I don’t let any details about you get past the assistant warden.”

“It’s not that, but I just can’t say who did it,” I insisted.

She nodded her head and checked on my bandages. “You’re more fit than I thought you’d be.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” I asked.

“God no,” she replied before returning to her desk to write down more notes.

I didn’t try sitting up again for fear of her getting angry at me again, but I needed to ask her something so I turned my head and said with my voice raised, “My friend was raped by someone she knows and has to see him every day because of her situation. She doesn’t know who to talk to because she’s worried that because she likes him, people will think she wanted it. She wants to talk to him about it too. I don’t know how to help her but I figured that since you're a doctor, you’d be able to give me some advice.”

“Mr. Arlert, is it? Because I’m not her therapist nor am I trained in psychiatric help, I can’t give you much advice,” she explained. “But as I rape victim myself, you need to support her as much as you can. Don’t force her to get help if she’s not ready for it. She trusts you, so don’t break her trust.”

I nodded my head and dozed off as she walked to another person across the infirmary. Considering what she said, I knew getting help wasn’t something I could do for myself at that time, but it was something I wanted to do, and maybe having a frank discussion would help ease that feeling.


	8. Pulling At Heartstrings

I was up at six once again for another run on the quarterly military drills, this time suited up for the winter. The guys were all cheering me on as I stood at the starting line, and I sent them a thumbs up. I wasn’t wearing much, a thick sweater at the most, as I faced the harsh wind and prepared to run.

A buzzer went off and I took off down the obstacle course. It wasn’t as bad this time around but running and climbing in the cold didn’t exactly make things easier. My shoes didn’t have any grip on them and the snow only made it harder to keep a solid grip on the ropes and ledges.

By the time I made it through, I was out of breath and freezing cold. “How did I do this time?”

“You did much better, especially considering you just got back on your feet, but you need to improve more,” Levi replied, showing me that the time was paused a couple of minutes before my original finishing score from the last run.

I jogged back to my friends as other people were forced to run through the course. I watched them go one by one, with Connie beating his score once again. It seemed like he was on drugs but being a boxer in a previous life meant that he was super athletic so it didn’t seem too far off that he was good at military drills. But then again, he was also a drug dealer but I didn’t focus on that aspect too much.

“Are you going to tell me what happened in the library?” Jean asked as he sat down after beating his score.

I didn’t answer.

“You can’t just ignore me forever,” Jean said again. “What happened in the library?”

“You’re not a therapist,” I answered.

“But I’m your friend, and that’s the closest thing to a therapist you’ve got right now,” Jean replied, turning my head to make me look at him. “All I want to do is help. That’s all.”

I shook my head and forced his hand off of me.

I looked at everyone as they ran and when Eren stepped up, he stared directly at me with a smirk on his face and a spring in his step. I heaved a sigh as he shucked his sweater off of his shoulder, exposing his toned biceps. I watched him effortlessly complete the course. He wasn’t as fast as Connie but he was still faster than the average prisoner here. He was almost as strong as Reiner as well. He had been working out in the week I was secluded to the infirmary.

He walked past me and winked as he left the courtyard, sending my thoughts to the nasty places I had repressed when I was in middle school. It was his signal for me to follow him.

“What’s with him?” Jean sounded suspicious.

“We’re just getting along again, that’s all,” I lied, quickly running to catch up with the brunette.

I left an unconvinced Jean in the dust and walked alongside Eren who took me to his cell.  _ I guess he wants different scenery this time around… _

I was right, as Eren threw me onto his bed and started kissing me. His hands roamed my chest to unzip my hoodie and tore it off my torso. His fingers pinched my nipples which resulted in me pulling away from the kiss to moan as I gripped the blanket underneath me.

Eren’s new favourite method of arousal was making me beg for sex. He poked and prodded at pleasure points on my body but never did anything unless I screamed for it. He knew exactly how to make me want it, and I couldn’t say no once it got far enough.

“Eren, please,” I moaned, moving his hands lower.

He holds my hands above my head and whispers, “What was it you said?”

He pinched my right nipple again only this time harder as he bit down on my collarbone.

“I want it,” I gasped as he rubbed my clothed crotch. “I want you!”

“That’s what I thought, bitch,” He growled as he took his tank top off.

I got undressed as well, though Eren didn’t make it any easier as he was still sucking on my collarbone. I had to push him away to get my clothes fully off, and Eren didn’t waste any time going down on me.

_ Fuck,  _ I groaned as his saliva dripped down my hard member.

I felt him stop as he grabbed my hips and flipped me over so I was laying on my stomach with my butt propped up. I figured he was getting ready to push into me but he surprised me by sucking on the back of my left thigh for a minute or so and then licking my anus.

I nearly shrieked and pushed him off. “What are you–?”

He held me down and continued licking in circular motions as I shivered and cringed into his pillow. It went on for much longer than I wanted. I had no idea what he was doing or why he thought what he was doing would be pleasurable to me in any way. I couldn’t stand it and prayed for him to move on with his dirty work.

Eventually, Eren stripped himself down to his bare skin and reached for the lube he kept hidden under his bed. He lathered his fingers in the sticky liquid and rubbed the excess where his lips once were and slowly pushed two of his fingers into me, causing a high pitched moan to erupt from my system.

“You like that?” he slapped my rear and I vigorously nodded my head. “Do you want it?”

I nodded my head again, but that answer wasn’t good enough for him as he slapped my rear again.

“I said, do you want it?” He asked again.

“I do!” I yelled, his pillow muffling my voice.

“That’s more like it.”

He coated his erection in the lube and thrust hard into me, his skin slapping against my thighs. “We only have so much time, so let’s make this a quick one.”

“Just fuck me already,” I pleaded, and he quickly granted my wish.

Eren had me brainwashed into thinking he was the master. He had me wanting to have sex with him every minute of the day. He had me scared of saying no if I didn’t want to do anything with him. He was on my mind all the time, whether it was good memories from saying yes or frightening potential scenarios if I ever said no. He had me wrapped around his finger by this point, but I didn’t fucking care.

With a final gasp from me, I orgasmed all over Eren’s mattress and Eren soon followed after me, spilling himself into my backside. I felt him pull out of me and I laid down in the mess I made, staring up at the brunette.

“You have beautiful eyes,” I said, gasping for air.

“I could say the same about your ocean eyes,” Eren replied, laying down beside me.

He leaned in for a kiss on the lips but I held him back. “I suggest scrubbing your face before kissing me.”

“Right, I’m too eager sometimes,” he smiled. “So, how did you like the rim job?”

“Is that what that was?” I didn’t know how else to describe my feelings on it so I was honest with him. “I didn’t really like it.”

“Oh…” Eren looked like a puppy that had just gotten kicked. “I thought maybe because everyone else I’ve ever fucked didn’t complain, I thought maybe you wouldn’t either.”

His puppy dog eyes made me feel guilty about not liking his fetish. “I’m sorry, Eren.”

His pout remained as he replied, “It’s okay. I guess it’s more for me than it is for you.”

We laid in silence for a little while until we remembered that we didn’t have a lot of time and immediately scrambled to get redressed again. Eren walked me to the library for my shift and before he left for his workplace, I grabbed his hand.

“What are we?” I asked. “Please, I’ve been wondering this for a while now.”

“What do you mean, what are we? Isn’t it obvious?” He said possibly sarcastically.

“No?” I replied. “Should it be?”

“It should,” Eren smirked and said in a heated sensual whisper, “Because we’re friends with benefits, obviously.”


	9. Maggot

“Jean, what are friends with benefits?” I asked Jean as we practised shooting hoops together.

This was the day after Eren told me what we were and he confused me. He would tease me about it to no end as well, and it became rather annoying to deal with. I decided to put a stop to it all together by asking what that term actually meant, and I knew Jean would give me the right answer.

“It’s when you’re fucking someone and you both have established that that’s all you do. No anniversaries, no meeting parents or friends, none of the relationship that comes with the fucking,” Jean explained. “Why do you wanna know?”

“Eren was talking about this person he would do that stuff with but he wouldn’t tell me what being friends with benefits meant,” I lied, sinking another basket.

“Figures he wouldn’t, he seems like he would be that type of asshole,” Jean stated, his ball bouncing off the rim of the basket. “I honestly don’t know why we hang out with him now. Apparently, he was different before we all showed up.”

“So, Eren’s been here the longest out of the group?” I inquired.

“Almost ten years now,” Jean missed another basket. “He has photos of what he used to look like before he came to prison. You should ask to see them.”

“How was he different?” I inquired further.

“You would have to ask him but from what I remember, people said he was a skinny dude that couldn’t stand up for himself,” Jean explained. “He didn’t come in here all dominant and aggressive and shit. He had to learn all of that. He ruled the prison yard for a while too apparently, but I doubt that’s true.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he was,” I sank another basket. “If he had to show people he wasn’t someone to be messed with, he would have to do some serious physical and personality changes. It would take a lot of work, but he could have probably achieved it.”

Jean put his ball away and sat at the bleachers. “You’re really interested in Eren.”

“Are you annoyed by that?” I asked honestly.

“I’m not annoyed, per se. I’ve just noticed how he’ll look at you from time to time and where he walks off to, you’ll follow,” Jean admitted. “It’s like you’re his lap dog.”

“I just like spending time with him,” I insisted. “It’s like how you like spending time with me or the other guys.”

“But I don’t look at the other guys like I wanna fuck ‘em,” Jean clarified.

I noted his choice of words and how he glossed over the part where I mentioned myself and him. “So you look at me at me like you wanna fuck me then, eh?”

Jean rolled his eyes and shoved me gently. “You’re not wrong there. I’m sorry, I can’t help it sometimes. You’re really attractive.”

“I take it as a compliment,” I shrugged. “Besides, at least I’m not fourteen and drunk.”

“Okay, you fucking shitbird!” Jean laughed as he tackled me to the ground and wrestled with me for a while.

“Hey! Stop fucking on the court! We wanna play basketball!” Connie yelled as he, Reiner, and Bertolt stood a metre away from Jean and me.

I laughed as Jean helped me stand up. “Let’s play ball!”

We divided ourselves into two teams with one person rotating out as points were scored. It was myself and Jean versus the other three with Bertolt sitting out first. It was hard for me to concentrate as I felt someone’s eyes on me and it wasn’t anyone that was on the basketball court.

I caught a glimpse at Eren who was beckoning me to go to him, and I knew that if I said no that something terrible would happen to me. He probably saw me wrestling with Jean and heard what Connie said and actually thought we were having sex. He wasn’t that serious of a person, but he came off as such when it came to me hanging out with people while he wasn’t around.

“I’ll catch up with you guys later, okay?” I said, passing the ball to Jean. “I gotta go.”

“But you’re my good luck charm!” Jean yelled as I ran toward Eren.

He smiled as I stopped in front of him and ruffled my hair. “I got a surprise for you.”

Excited, I replied, “What is it?”

“I’ll show you in my cell,” he smirked, pulling me back into the building by the wrist.

I felt terrible for leaving the guys the way I did but I convinced myself that it would be worth it. It had to be. The feeling of dread grew stronger with every step I took until we were in Eren’s cell.

“What did you wanna show me?” I asked.

Eren turned around and kissed me, pushing me up against the wall. He held me in place by my wrists as he swirled his tongue around every crevice of my mouth before pulling away and breathing deeply. I knew right then and there that he wasn’t feeling right.

“Eren, what’s this about?” I asked calmly.

“Why do you hang out with those guys?” he asked sternly. “You’re not fucking them, are you?”

“What makes you think I’m fucking them? Because we play basketball together?” I raised my voice. “I’m not fucking any of them.”

“Better not be,” he gripped at my clothing and almost tore my seams open. “Because you’re mine and mine alone.”

I shoved him off of me and made a run for the door, but he grabbed me by the jumpsuit and pulled me back towards him. “Don’t get any ideas.”

In a fit of anger, I yelled, “Get the fuck off of me!” And punched at him over my shoulder, landing a hit on his eye.

It was enough to get him to let me go but he was still blocking the exit. I was trapped in a cell with Eren right after punching him and turning down his advances. I silently prayed for death to swallow me whole at that moment as he slapped me across the face, sending me to the ground.

I was about to get up and I saw Jean behind Eren and witnessed him get into a physical fight on the ground in front of me. I had never seen either one of them filled with so much rage as the fists flew and yelling ensued. It was like looking at a car accident; no matter how hard I wanted to look away, I couldn’t. I was forever staring at them until a winner stood up victorious. He didn’t claim a crown though, he claimed me.

“Need help up?” Eren asked, his hand extended to me.

I accepted his offer and stood up, following him to where he wanted to take me. “Was all that necessary or just for show?”

“It was very necessary,” Eren insisted. “Jean wanted to hurt you. That’s why he attacked me.”

“But he was fine when I saw him on the courtyard,” I replied, confused at his notion.

“He manipulates people like you,” Eren explained. “Optimistic people who only wish to see the glass half full in life. He uses that against you and breaks you down until you’re nothing. You can’t trust people like him, Armin. They’ll only hurt you in the end…”

After Eren told me this, I didn’t speak to him for a few days and hung out with the guys purely out of spite. I wasn’t about to let him control my friend group, especially Jean whom he lied about directly to my face. I should have known better than to let him continue doing what he was doing. I was in too deep to get out though and became tangled in his web of lies only to find that there was no way out.

“Is Eren sulking again?” Connie asked, trying to steal food from everyone else at the table (well, I guess it wasn’t stealing if nobody cared.)

“Yep,” I replied, passing him my leftovers. “I hate it when he gets like that.”

“Why did you guys all get into that brawl in the first place?” Bertolt wondered, his arm linked through Reiner’s.

Eren wasn’t around to gossip for he was placed in solitary confinement for allegedly starting the fight, which he did, so Jean answered for himself and Eren, “Eren hit Armin.”

“I mean, I figured as much since I saw the red mark on your face,” Reiner spoke up. “I just don’t get it. We were all fine and now he’s pulling this shit again.”

“He’s doing what again?” I asked, shocked.

“He did this before about a year after I got here,” Jean explained. “It was just him, Connie, myself, and another guy. Eren got really attached to him but because he was only charged for a year with the possibility of probation after six months, he left fairly quickly. Eren couldn’t handle it and broke down.”

“He looked like you,” Connie added. “And it seems like he doesn’t want to lose that guy again, so he’s latched himself onto you.”

I sat in my seat, my mouth agape in shock. I would have never suspected that he had a lover here before me. I knew I wasn’t special after hearing the rumours of his life before it had gone to shit, but I never figured he would have found someone he liked or even that I looked similar to him. Maybe his type was blonde hair and blue eyes?

Over the loudspeaker in the cafeteria, I heard Levi yell, “Would Armin Arlert please report to the visitation room immediately? Get your ass over you, you maggot!”

“Why the fuck is that my nickname?” I groaned as I stood up. “I’ll see you guys when I get out.”

I walked down to the visitation area, passing the shower and hearing the water run. I peeked into the room for a second and saw Eren near the middle running his hair through the hot water (he must have gotten out of solitary.) It made me think of the times we had fun together, but I could stay and reminisce for very long. I had somewhere I needed to be.

I walked to the visitation area to find Levi standing at the middle phone with someone else sitting in the chair on the other side. “Have a seat, Maggot.”

“Must you insist on calling me that?” I groaned as I sat across from the person on the other side of the plexiglass.

“You’ll be okay with it if you know what’s good for you,” Mr. Ackerman threatened. “Detective Hanji Zoe and her partner Mike Zacharias would like to have a word with you about your situation.”

Levi left the room and I picked up the phone along with the woman.

“Ms. Zoe, is it?” I asked.

“I prefer the more neutral term of detective,” they replied. “I have decided to take on your case and prove your innocence.”

“Prove my innocence?” I nearly jumped for joy in my seat.

“I looked over the paperwork before handing it in and noticed many inconsistencies surrounding the evidence while also seeing how lazy your judge and the police officers were. Your lawyer did a damn good job from what it looks like,” Hanji explained. “My Sergeant had that detective suspended without pay if that makes you feel any better.”

“I mean, it sucks for him,” I replied. “Does this mean I’m getting out?”

“Once I have enough evidence for a retrial, then yes,” they said. “I can’t say how long this will take, unfortunately, but I can try to expedite the process so you’re not stuck in here for years and have this whole situation wiped from your record. How does that sound?”

I wanted to be happy, but I couldn’t even crack a smile. It would mean I would have to leave my friends behind. It would mean I would have to leave Eren behind. As much as I hated him at that moment, I couldn’t bear to leave him as his first lover did.

“Don’t tell me you wanna stay here for a crime you didn’t commit,” They said.

“I don’t, but I’ve made some pretty good friends here and I would feel bad just leaving them,” I replied. “Especially a couple in particular…”

“Armin, you could always come to visit them. I can even arrange for you to walk around the property with them if you wanted to,” Hanji offered. “I can help you keep a connection, but only if you accept my help. Do we have a deal?”

I considered it for a second and eventually nodded my head. “Deal.”

The rest of the day flew by with ease as my friends all congratulated me on possibly getting out early, only Eren wasn’t there to celebrate with us. I felt lonely without him around, despite the number of people I had by my side every day. He filled that void in me to make me feel whole.

“Okay, maggot, because we’re low on singular cells, I have reassigned you to room with Eren since his cell is bigger than the others in the unit,” Levi said, muttering curses towards the construction team who built the prison.

I saw Eren sitting on his bed and noticed that a second bed had been moved into the cell. I sat down on it and made my bed as Eren laid on his, silent as a scream in outer space. Clearly, he was mad at me and if we were going to make this work, I had to fix the mess I made for him.

I sat down beside him for a second, and he noticed my presence. I laid down with him and held his hand, and he didn’t let go. I kissed his shoulder and smiled up at him, and he turned his head and smiled back down at me.

“I’m sorry,” I replied. “I didn’t know you had been through this before with someone else.”

Eren reached under his bed and pulled out a box filled with pictures of how he used to look and who he used to be friends with. “I was a sickly-looking guy with floppy emo hair who got terrible grades in school. The only thing about me that’s still the same is my bad grades.”

“I think you look cute, both then and now,” I kissed his lips. “Tell me about Michael…”

Eren went off on all these crazy stories he had with him. They used to be best friends here in prison and often did everything together. He had the same blue eyes I had, but instead of blonde shoulder-length hair, he had a brunette-cropped hairstyle. He was taller than me too, by about four inches or so.

Eren cried as he got to the part about Michael leaving, saying that he never saw him again after he met his sister for that final time, which was three years ago, and suspected that the two of them had gotten together. I had never felt as much sympathy for someone as I did for Eren. I grabbed his hands and kissed his lips and replied, “I’m not going anywhere…”


	10. It Just Takes Some Time

Eren and I fell back into our routine after I had moved in with him. It was a blessing because we could do whatever we wanted when the lights went out and the guards stopped walking. Of course, with great power comes great responsibility and I had to make sure I wasn’t excessively loud while we made love.

Tonight was no exception, as Eren kissed his way down my bare chest to my crotch and licked my member. He took me into his mouth and sucked on my member, causing me to moan.

“Shh,” Eren said quietly as he went back to what he was doing.

I covered my mouth to muffle any noises as Eren’s tongue took me to paradise. I grabbed the blanket below me as Eren bobbed his head up and down in a distinct rhythm before retracting his head and grabbing the lube. I nodded to him as he coated his hard erection in the sticky liquid and slowly pushed into me.

I choked back any moaning that could have escaped me as I felt Eren’s girthy phallus slide in and out of me. I pulled him closer so I could kiss him, his lips muffling any noise that could be heard. It was something out of a Korean porno (not that I had ever watched porn, let alone Korean porn.)

I pulled away and breathed out, “Make me cum.”

“You’re so eager,” Eren moaned in a husky whisper. “You don’t want this to be over yet, do you?”

I bit my lip and shook my head, and Eren continued to thrust. He would often pick up the pace to see how silent I could be, but whenever he heard me he would stop and make me beg for him to keep going. He even pulled out a couple of times when I misbehaved too much. He had me crawling back to him and complying for more of his warmth and his touch.

“You gonna be a good little bitch?” He smirked sensually.

I gritted my teeth and nodded my head, and he pulled out and flipped me onto my hands and knees and pushed in once again, his pace faster as he moaned lowly. I buried my face in his pillow as I felt myself growing closer and closer until finally, I had reached my climax. With one final groan, I ejaculated onto Eren’s bed.

Eren finished a few moments or so after I did with a few hard thrusts and a lustful grunt, and fell beside me. “You feel so good.”

I turned to face him, laying on my side. “You make me feel so good.”

He kissed my sweat-covered forehead and stood up to get dressed. “I switched jobs. Figured I wouldn’t want people seeing our cum on a blanket. It might not look good.”

I nodded my head in agreement as I clothed myself. “Maybe I should switch too?”

“No, stay in the library,” Eren replied. “You can lock the door and we can fuck in there without anyone disturbing us.”

I would have said something about not being allowed to lock the door while I was at work, but I kept it to myself. He would have been upset that he couldn’t get his fix and neither of us wanted that. Besides, he would have put me into the mood even if I was totally entranced with my job.

“Have you heard anything back from those detective people yet?” Eren asked, gaining my full attention.

I shook my head. “They’re probably busy working on finding evidence, y’ know?”

“I wouldn’t hold my breath,” Eren replied. “Cops aren’t good for much. I mean, you got thrown in here because you just happened to be at the scene of the crime.”

“I guess,” I shrugged, laying on my bed.

“Although, you being thrown in here might have been a good thing,” Eren said, turning to look at me. “You’re a good fuck buddy.”

I blushed. “You’re the one that does all the work.”

We heard footsteps, cueing that it was time to sleep. I tucked myself under the thin blanket and smiled at Eren one last time before turning over to face the wall. I laid my head on my pillow and closed my eyes, with what Eren had said about Detective Zoe and Zachariah being in the back of my mind.

_Cops aren’t good for much…_

I hadn’t spoken to either of them in about three months by this point. They had mentioned that they would only see me if they had any updates but I thought it would be more frequent updates than that. I figured that Eren was probably glad about me not receiving any updates. It would mean that I would have to leave, only being able to visit him during visiting hours. It wasn’t something I wished to dwell on, so I relaxed and fell into a deep sleep.

I woke up the next morning with a cold breeze drifting over my back. I saw that my blanket was on the floor and assumed it fell off of me in the middle of the night. I sat up and stretched my arms to the sky, noticing that Eren was still sound asleep in his bed. I smiled at how he was curled up like a baby in his blanket.

_He’s so adorable…_

I stood up and slipped my shoes on and poked my head through the bars. “Jean, you awake?”

I heard, “Yep,” from the cell beside me and saw Jean stick his head out and look at me. “Did they move you?”

“They ran out of room for everyone else so I had to move in with Eren,” I explained.

“They could have just given him a newbie,” Jean remarked.

I shrugged. “They said that because we get along so well that it would work out better in the end.”

Jean rolled his eyes. “We had better get our heads out of the bars. The doors will open soon.”

I agreed and returned to my bed and watched the doors open a few minutes later at exactly seven o’clock. Eren wasn’t awake yet, so I walked to the cafeteria with Jean. He and I hadn’t been hanging out after Eren started taking up all my time and I missed the chats we would have early in the morning or during basketball practice.

Jean yawned as he took a seat across from me at our table. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Then go back to bed, silly,” I replied.

“You woke me up,” he explained, stretching his arms to the sky and flexing his muscles. “You talk in your sleep.”

I felt a blush form on my cheeks and I crossed my arms in embarrassment. “I don’t talk in my sleep.”

“You don’t know you’re doing it,” Jean smirked. “You said my name, and it made me smile.”

After hearing that, my whole face turned red. “Oh well.”

Jean chuckled. “I’m messing with you. You were going on about the two detectives you met months ago. You were getting really heated about something.”

“I haven’t heard anything back in three months. I’m worried they couldn’t find any evidence to help me…”

Jean held my hand in his. “I’m sure they’ll find something.”

I smiled at him. “I’ll be sure to visit once I get out.”

“You better,” Jean smiled, not retracting his hand.

“Ahem,” I heard Eren say.

Startled, I pulled my hand away from Jean. “Hey, Eren. I didn’t think you’d be awake.”

“So you could run off with your secret lover?” Eren chuckled so I could only assume he was making a joke.

“Totally,” I said sarcastically.

Soon, Mr. Ackerman’s voice was broadcasting over the loudspeaker. “Would the maggot, Armin Arlert, please report to the visitation room? Get your ass over there right now!”

I rolled my eyes. “Levi’s an asshole. I’ll catch you guys later.”

I stood up and walked out of the cafeteria and to the visitation room where the plexiglass was. There was Det. Zoe sitting with someone I didn’t recognize. Their appearance could only mean that there was new information, and I rushed over and picked up the phone.

“Morning, Detective Zoe,” I said eagerly.

“Good morning, Armin,” they replied. “I hope you don’t mind me bringing a friend with us. His name is Mobilt.”

“Not at all,” I insisted. “Do you have any news?”

“I do,” They explained. “After doing a bit of digging into what actually happened that night and after doing an autopsy on your friend, my team managed to figure out that she was intoxicated and high on oxy and cocaine.”

“Oxy?” My mouth was agape in surprise. “She’s straight-edged though.”

“We think she only took it because she was drunk. It seemed like she messed up her sinuses pretty hard as well,” they explained. “Also, it was determined that she was stabbed thirteen times and the angle at which the knife penetrated her skin. You would have had to have stood on a step ladder to be able to stab her at the angles shown on her body.”

“Explain?” I requested.

“Her killer was five feet and ten inches tall, and last time I checked, you were only five foot six,” they answered. “This means we have something to go on to look for more evidence.”

I smiled, but it fell when I remembered that Eren and Jean would be left behind. “That’s amazing to hear…”

“You’re still thinking about your friends here, aren’t you?” They asked, and I nodded my head. “I can understand that, but remember what I said when we first spoke. I can always set up specials for you all to hang out together.”

I shrugged. “I know, but I just feel bad about leaving them.”

“It’ll all be okay in the end, Armin,” Det. Zoe reassured me. “We must be going, but it was lovely meeting with you again.”

I waved goodbye and hung up the phone, leaving to go back to the prison cafeteria. It seemed like my options were broadening, whether I wanted them to or not. The only reason I was happy about this was that Krista would get the justice she deserved.


	11. It's Only In Your Head

It was visiting hours once again and Jean was nowhere to be found. This meant I had to be at the table without anyone to talk to, other than the rest of the crew, but Eren didn’t let me talk to anyone else. Even if I could, I didn’t talk with the others that often so it wasn’t like I could make conversation with them out of thin air. I would have to resort to small talk, something that wasn’t fun for anybody to deal with.

“You gonna finish that?” Connie asked as he took my tray and before I could answer he started eating my food.

I rolled my eyes and stared out the window. The snow was piling up outside and the basketball court had been closed off because of ice. This meant that I was stuck inside and couldn’t practice basketball with the guys. We had to find other things to do. It honestly sucked so much.

“Armin?” Bertolt said.

I looked over at him. “Please kill me now. We can’t go outside anymore.”

Reiner chuckled. “It’s not so bad here. They let us play board games during free time!”

“But I just wanna go back outside,” I whined. “Or I would at least like the choice of staying inside rather than having it being forced upon me.”

“If there were a fucking virus going around with no cure, you would say otherwise,” Connie insisted as he scarfed down the last of my food. “Besides, I’d rather stay inside than go out in the freezing cold.”

“Can’t we at least open a fucking window?” I complained.

“Even if we could, that would be a stupid idea since it’s fucking snowing outside,” Eren said all of a sudden. “Hey, I just woke up.”

“How the fuck did you get away with sleeping in?” Reiner asked.

“The way anyone gets away with anything around here,” Eren smirked and whispered, “Drugs.”

I was in shock while the others were eagerly begging for things like heroin, marijuana, and LSD (or as they referred to it, acid.) “Eren, you’re a drug dealer?”

“I don’t sell to inmates, just guards,” he explained as he shrugged. “Besides, loads of people here sell things to get extra perks so it’s not like I’m the only one doing it.”

“People even give tattoos or piercings to inmates for drugs,” Connie added. “I know a couple of guys who do body mods for straight-up cigarettes.”

“You should get a tattoo,” Eren suggested.

“Maybe in the future,” I replied.

I saw Jean walking towards our table and I smiled as he sat down. “What’s good?” Jean asked.

“Eren wants Armin to get a tattoo,” Bertolt explained.

“I would look stupid with one though,” I insisted.

“If you got a stupid tattoo then yes,” Jean said. “Get something floral.”

“I’ll take it under consideration,” I chuckled.

Eren wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. “Don’t get flowers, that’s some faggy shit.”

“Hey, don’t say that word,” Jean said, getting defensive.

“Or what? If anything, I’m the only one who would be allowed to say it,” Eren shrugged. “It’s like how only black people can say–”

I cut Eren off before he could say something mildly racist. “Okay, we’re not even gonna go there. Let’s go find something to do.”

I stood up and walked out of the cafeteria with Eren and Jean following behind me. Eren was giving Jean side glares but would look the opposite whenever I looked over my shoulder. Jean was never aggressive, minus when he punched Eren, while Eren was protective, almost possessive. Almost, because he hadn’t done anything to mess with that thought.

“Got any ideas?” I asked the men trailing behind me.

“I was gonna lift weights,” Eren shrugged. “Care to join me, Armin?”

I curled an eyebrow at the brunette and gestured over to Jean.

Eren rolled his eyes. “And Jean?”

“Not if you’re gonna be an asshole,” Jean replied, walking past me. “I’m gonna talk to the artist. Later!”

“The artist?” His words had me intrigued.

“The tattoo artist I mentioned,” Jean explained, looking over his shoulder with his hands in his pockets. “Wanna come with me?”

Eren grabbed my arm and whispered, “You’re not actually gonna go, are you?”

I pursed my lips together, considering both the options presented in front of me. On the one hand, I could lift weights with Eren and potentially get stronger which would help me in the long run. On the other hand, I could talk to Jean since I didn’t get to talk with him during breakfast. So, I chose the latter.

“I’ll meet with you later,” I whispered and caught up with Jean.

“So, you’re  _ not  _ his little lap dog after all,” Jean whispered.

“That’s none of your concern,” I replied, and we walked the rest of the way in silence.

Jean stopped in front of a cell and knocked on one of the bars. “Yo, Eld!”

A man with long golden hair tied into a bun looked up from his sketchbook. “Jean, glad you made it on time.”

“Hope you don’t mind, I brought a friend,” Jean said, gesturing to me. “This is Armin.”

“Does your friend want a tattoo?” Eld asked Jean, looking at me. “I could put a smiley face on his ass if you want.”

Jean laughed as I widened my eyes. “Maybe another time. He’s scared of getting a tat.”

“I am not scared, I just don’t want something on my body that I’ll regret for the rest of my life,” I explained. “I can just watch for today.”

“Have a look at my designs. Jean, give me your arm,” Eld grabbed a case from under his pillow.

I sat on the floor as I grabbed one of Eld’s binders and flipped through the pages. He had many different designs, ranging from detailed colour sceneries to portraits of celebrities to simple black designs. He was very talented in his craft, and it made me want a tattoo from him.

That is, until I looked up and saw that he was stabbing a needle into Jean’s arm. I looked away quickly as I heard Jean groan from discomfort and continued flipping through the binders. I stopped at one particular design and pulled the page out of its plastic cover, and just as I was about to examine it further, a photograph fell into my lap.

“Uh, maybe put that away,” Jean said.

“No, let him look,” Eld spoke up. “That was me and my wife on our wedding day.”

I looked at the photo and noticed something that I never would have suspected. “You’re wearing a wedding dress?”

“That was fifteen years ago, before I came out,” Eld explained. “If I could redo anything about that day, it would be that I would have worn a suit.”

“You were a–”

“Biologically speaking, yes,” Eld replied. “She didn’t take it well and a year later, we divorced. She wanted a woman, not a man.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I apologized.

“Don’t worry about it, now I gotta concentrate…”

Eld went back to poking ink into Jean’s arm and I looked at the design I had in my hand. It was a cherry blossom scene with a Japanese woman in traditional clothing and makeup. She was standing by the ocean with a blank stare as she looked over the crashing waves. I looked closer and saw how detailed the coy fish were. I felt like I was there with her.

“You want a ribcage tattoo?” Jean asked.

I looked up and saw that he was getting a treble clef on his lower arm. “Should I get one like that first then?”

“You would be pretty brave if you got a ribcage tattoo as your first ever tat,” Eld said.

There was a lingering silence until I noticed that Jean was gritting his teething and gripping the mattress with his free hand. I scooted closer and offered my open hand to Jean who took it reluctantly. His grip hurt, but he needed support and I wanted to help him.

“Do you like music?” I asked.

“I was a supply teacher for music classes for the longest time until I got my first permanent teaching job,” Jean explained. “It’s a funny story actually. I was at that school for five years until I got myself landed here.”

“Because you hooked up with a child,” Eld said. “Sorry, I mean, fifteen-year-old.”

“I thought he was fourteen?” I asked. “Sorry, that doesn’t matter. Did you enjoy teaching?”

“I did, and I wish I could go back and ignore that kid,” Jean sighed. “He visits me all the time here.”

“Wait, is that who you were talking to?” I reacted.

“Yep. I’m pretty sure he’s in love with me, but it was just a one-time thing,” Jean replied. “Poor kid won’t take the hint so I’ve stopped trying.”

“Mind dropping a name?” I asked.

“Not at all. His name is Marco,” Jean pulled his arm back and admired his new tattoo. “Thanks, Eld.”

“No problem, just get me those cigarettes and we’ll call it even,” Eld said as he wiped down his tools. “And if you ever want a tattoo, Armin, just make an appointment and I’ll tell you my price.”

I nodded my head and followed Jean out of the cell and down the hallway. I couldn’t get that design out of my head. The shading, the colours, the lines, everything about it. The only thing that kept me from making an appointment was the pain.

“Is it as bad as it seems?” I asked Jean.

“Not really, no, but it all depends on where you get the tattoo and your personal pain tolerance. Why?” Jean looked down at me with his golden-brown eyes, and I let out a quiet breath. “You wanna get one now?”

I shrugged and smiled up at him, feeling a blush form on my cheeks. “I-I don’t know. Should I?”

Jean smirked as he looked me up and down. “Let’s go make you an appointment then.”

Jean walked back with me, walking slightly ahead of me. It was no secret that Jean liked me, but I started to feel the same way about him. Or at least, I thought I was until I remembered that Eren had already claimed me. People always said that you couldn’t control how you felt, something the church I attended lived by, but this time it was applying to me, and I had to choose between Eren and Jean.


	12. Inked Up

“This will hurt,” Eld said as he grabbed his needle.

After a couple of days, I managed to scrape together a box of pens and a carton of cigarettes (much to my distaste) to pay Eld for the tattoo he was going to give me. Jean helped me out as well by getting me in touch with his outside sources (also known as Marco, the kid that got him arrested.)

“Of course it will, he’s getting a fucking rib tattoo,” Eren spoke up. He was there as well.

“No need to be snarky,” Jean growled.

Eren caught wind of me making an appointment and after a heated hour of sex, I told him everything about what I had planned. He made fun of my tattoo choice but agreed to come along anyway after I promised that we would have sex after I was finished. It was really easy to get him to do what I wanted, though sometimes he could be stubborn.

“Quit it with the rivalry or you’ll both wait outside,” I said, turning to Eld. “I’m ready to go.”

“Just lay back and relax,” Eld said as he leaned over my body.

I felt that first poke and a jolt of pain went through my body, and I shrieked into my hand. Eld kept poking and I did my best to not squirm. The more he plunged his needle into my skin, the more I was regretting my decision.

I noticed that Eren dragged Jean outside of the cell right as the pain was getting worse. I told Eld I needed a break and he pulled away. I heard Eren and Jean arguing about something and I decided to listen in closely. They were trying to be quiet, but they weren’t quiet enough.

Eren was growling about me. “Can you just back off of him already?”

“Why? Because I’m being nice to him?” Jean replied.

“I saw him first,” Eren insisted angrily. “I saw him the first day he got here, meaning he’s mine.”

“Wow, very mature of you,” Jean groaned. “Maybe try, I don’t know, treating him like a person? You’re a fucking control freak and have been since Michael left you here to rot.”

“Don’t you dare bring him up,” Eren snapped.

“Those guys suck at staying quiet,” Eld whispered. “They’re so fucking annoying.”

“They just don’t like each other,” I whispered back, noticing the bottle he was fiddling with. “Are those ink bottles?”

“It’s just my black ink with some very basic colours,” Eld explained. “My guys haven’t gotten me any more bottles so I’m working with what I have. That’s why I asked you for some pens. I needed blue ink.”

“You use pen ink?” I inquired. “Is that even safe?”

“Nothing about what I’m doing right now is safe,” Eld replied. “I can stop if you want me to.”

I shrugged. “It would be stupid to leave a beautiful piece half done.”

“Alright,” Eld nodded his head as he dipped his tools into a bottle of rubbing alcohol and wiped them down. “Ready to keep going?”

I nodded my head and the pain returned once again. I didn’t bother with trying to get the guys’ attention. Instead, I focused on their voices.

“Does he even know why you’re here?” Jean asked.

Eren didn’t answer.

Jean spoke up after a few moments. “You didn’t tell him, did you? I mean, I’m not surprised. You haven’t told anyone here.”

“I prefer to be a secretive person while I’m here,” Eren insisted. “Not everyone is like you and wants to sleep with young men. Is that your tactic? Manipulation?”

“You mean being honest with people? That’s how every fucking relationship works,” Jean snapped in return.

“Hey, guys? Keep it down. I’m supposed to be on the down-low, remember?” Eld asked, not taking his eyes off of my ribcage. “It’s either you shut up or you leave. Take your pick.”

I watched Eren leave, presumably to our shared cell, while Jean walked back into the cell and sat with me. “Your boyfriend is a dick.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I replied, more defensively than I wanted it to sound.

“Good. Eren’s an asshole,” Jean groaned.

The hours passed painfully as Eld was making his finishing touches. Jean sat by me the entire time I was laying on Eld’s bed as he stabbed into my abdomen. Jean even held my hand when I needed him to. It made the process easier for me, and as the needle retracted one final time, I let out a sigh of relief.

“You did well for your first tattoo,” Eld commented, holding up a mirror to my body. “What do you think?”

I took the mirror into my own hands and swivelled it around my body to soak in all the details, and the only adjective I could use to describe it was, “Perfection. It’s honestly perfect. I love it!”

“Come back if you want another one,” Eld replied as he sanitized his tools. “Do what you can to take care of that.”

“Here, let me help you,” Jean said, extending his hand out to me.

I grabbed his hand and pulled myself up and the two of us walked out into the hallway. He walked me to the library so I could work my shift for the day. He walked close to me and our arms would brush together every so often. It was a silent walk, but it wasn’t a comfortable silence. I couldn’t stop myself from remembering that moment we had in the hallway and Jean’s argument with Eren.

I decided to bring up a different subject to hopefully subside the thoughts swarming my head. “So, has Eld always been a tattoo artist?”

“Yeah. He has his own shop a few cities over and everything,” Jean replied.

The tension between us didn’t settle down. It only got stronger. “That’s why he mentioned getting official ink from his friends.”

We stopped in front of the library doors, seeing that once again, no one was in the room. I had a little bit of time before I had to go in. I couldn’t exactly speak at that moment because of how nervous I was, so I only stared up at the ceiling as I leaned against the wall beside the library door.

“Should I leave you to work or should I stick around?” Jean asked, breaking the silence between us.

“You can hang out with me,” I answered, opening the door.

I punched in for my shift and Jean kept me company as I put books away. People seemed to be reading more as it was snowing outside and they needed something to do. Not that anyone was ever in the library during my shift, but I had a lot more work to do than normal.

As I shelved books away, I would look at Jean through the empty spaces before filling the void with books. Jean was, for lack of a better term, a cool guy. Much like Eren, Jean immediately latched onto me when we had first met months ago. He was different though. He had a similar level of protectiveness but was respectful of my choices. He also enjoyed having a conversation with me as well.

Looking back on this now, he was basically giving me the bare fucking minimum, but it was something I appreciated.

I was standing on my toes and reaching to put a book away on the top shelf. I couldn’t reach and almost slipped a couple of times, letting out an audible groan as I tripped over my feet and stumbled backwards.

“Here,” Jean said as he walked up to me and put the book in its place. The light caught his eyes just right and my heart skipped a beat.

Against my better judgement, I hugged him, though I pulled away quickly. “I need to go.”

Before I could get an answer, I ran off to my cell. I knew Eren would be there, and I needed to tell him what had just happened and how I was feeling, even if he beat me to a pulp.

As I expected, Eren was laying in his bed. He was reading a book,  _ The Great Gatsby _ , and looked up to see that I had tears in my eyes. “What’s up?” he asked, rushing to my aid.

Despite having the adrenaline pulsing through my veins, I was suddenly silent. All I could do was cry, and so I did just that. Eren didn’t speak and simply guided me to his bed. No one was around, so Eren connected our lips in a rough kiss as he pinned me down on the bed.

He leaned close to my ear and spoke in a sensual whisper, “Let me make you feel better…”


	13. I See Things That Nobody Else Sees

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, this is what I consider to be a sexual assault because he forces Armin to do sexual stuff that he's not up for. Just thought I'd give you guys a heads up!

As I felt Eren’s lips on my neck, I shivered at his touch. He wouldn’t stop and persisted further as he grabbed my waist and bit my neck. My thoughts didn’t stop either. Jean was the focus of everything in my head. The way I was imagining him made me feel gross because I had reserved that for Eren and Eren alone.

I pushed Eren away slightly. “I’m not up to it,” I whispered.

Eren held me down by my wrists and straddled my waist. “What did you say?”

His voice scared me, making me whisper back, “Hurry up.”

“That’s what I thought you said,” Eren growled as he undid the buttons on my orange jumpsuit.

I wasn’t in the right mindset for sex, but saying no to Eren would only make my day even worse. I didn’t want any more bruises. My last few were still trying to heal.

“Why so silent, pet?” Eren whispered.

I didn’t answer, but that didn't stop him from touching my body. His dry hands grazed my body, the rough skin scratching my waist and thighs, as he pulled my clothing off and tossed it all to the floor. I expected him to flip me over and get on with the usual, but he sat at the edge of the bed this time and pulled me on top of him so I was straddling his waist.

“What are you doing?” I asked cautiously.

“I think it’s time you try being the pitcher,” Eren explained, though I didn’t understand what he meant.

“Pitcher?” I repeated. “What’s a pitcher?”

“The giver,” Eren explained further. “You would be the giver and I would be the receiver.”

I blushed at his explanation. “You want me to be on top?”

“I think it’s good to switch things up every once in a while, and I wanna see if you’ve learned anything from me,” Eren smirked as he pulled at his tank top strap. “Show me what you’ve got, tiger.”

“I don’t know, I’m not really the kind of person who would do this,” I stated, motioning to stand up.

Eren grabbed my waist tightly and leaned closer to my ear. “I said, show me what you’ve got.”

I reluctantly pulled Eren’s shirt off, revealing his chiselled physique. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed a trail from his cheek to his neck and I started sucking on his skin. My actions were rewarded with a low groan from Eren, meaning that I was at least doing an okay job.

_So far, so good…_

“I feel a little overdressed,” Eren said, unwrapping the arms of his jumpsuit that were tied around his waist. “What’re you gonna do about it?”

I stepped back and pulled the rest of Eren’s clothing off and tossed it aside. He was completely naked in front of me and I couldn’t help but feel aroused by him. He had the body of David Beckham, after all, and it was enough to put me into a mood.

“You can’t just stand there _all_ day,” Eren leaned back onto his hands and spread his legs a little.

“Not with that attitude,” I replied before getting on my knees.

I never lost eye contact with him as I sunk to the floor and knelt between his legs and licked from his base to his tip. I saw his facial expressions change as I took his erection into my mouth and heard the quiet moan he let out as I stimulated him with my tongue. I watched him bite his bottom lip and shut his eyes. It made me want to keep going and see what else I could do to earn that reaction from him.

I pulled away, leaving only a string of saliva to keep us connected. “What should I do next?”

Eren snarkily shrugged as he laid down on his bed. “Do whatever you wish.”

I rolled my eyes as I straddled his body. “You’re so helpful.”

“I’m the most helpful,” Eren smirked. “Grab the bottle.”

I nodded my head and reached for the bottle of lube and poured some out onto my hand. I sat in between his legs and rather than getting too carried away at the start, I held his erection loosely in my hand as I started to jerk him off, slowly at first and then I picked up the speed.

Through a flurry of moans and sighs, I heard Eren say in a heated whisper, “Don’t make me wait any longer.”

“What if I did?” I teased, pushing a lubed up finger into his backside. “You said I could do whatever I wanted.”

Eren squinted at me, his face expressing his sudden realization at how much power I held over him. His features quickly changed from annoyance to lustful as I thrust two fingers into and out of his backside over and over until I pulled them out and applied lube to my member. I positioned myself and looked down at Eren.

“Ready?” I asked.

He nodded his head in response and I connected our lips as I pushed myself into him. He moaned into my lips and his fingernails dug themselves deeper into my back with every thrust. He was tighter than I thought he would be, considering that he mentioned being an experienced man. I was worried about making him bleed like I did the first time I had ever done things like this.

“Harder…” He whimpered after pulling away from my lips.

“Are you sure?” I asked, my pace staying the same.

He looked at me with dazed eyes, like he had been smoking marijuana recently. He was just high on sex, and I understood the feeling. I would get this way when Eren was inside me as well, leaving me begging for more. Now, it was time for me to return the favour.

I picked up the tempo, listening to the moans and sighs that escaped his mouth, which only encouraged me to go harder. I was making him scream by this point and I kissed him to keep him quiet. His voice vibrated against my lips and his nails scratched at my shoulder blades as he grunted into our kiss and his semen squirt onto my chest.

I followed suit, climaxing into Eren with a hitch in my breath. I pulled out and we were both lying on his bed out of breath and staring at the ceiling.

I was the first one to break the silence. “Was I okay?”

“You’re probably the most gentle person I’ve ever been fucked by,” Eren replied.

“Have you ever been fucked before?” I asked.

“I’m mostly a top, but I can switch if I’m with someone I’m comfortable around. Consider yourself lucky.”

Eren turned my head and stared into my eyes. “How do you feel now?”

I shrugged. “A little better…”

Suddenly, Eren and I heard a voice and then a scream, and we looked at the entrance to find Jean standing in the doorway with his mouth agape and a look of horror on his face. I quickly got dressed and managed to catch up to Jean before he could walk too far from my cell.

“Jean, please! Just let me explain,” I insisted as I stood in front of him.

“What’s there to explain?” Jean retorted. “I didn't mean to disturb you guys.”

“Eren and I–”

“I get it, Armin!” Jean pushed me up against the wall and stared down at the floor. “You guys are a thing. Lots of guys here have casual sex just to get by. I got it already, now just back off!”

I let him walk off down the hall and joined Eren back at our cell, seeing him tie up his arm sleeves around his waist. “He’s gone.”

“Did something happen with him?” Eren asked. “He didn’t do anything to you, did he?”

I felt myself begin to well up once again and I leaned against Eren’s chest, unable to contain it this time around. “He and I hugged earlier and he makes me feel weird so I hugged him to make it go away but I just made it worse for myself.”

I realized what I had said and braced myself for the impact. “I’m sorry, please don’t hurt me!”

Eren grabbed my arms and forced me to look at him. “I’ll deal with that later. We need to make sure he doesn’t do anything to tamper with our relationship.”

Eren pushed past me and I yelled to him as he walked down the hallway, “Wait, relationship?!”

“What are you, five? We’re boyfriends now,” He smirked, leaving me in the dust of his footsteps in total shock at the words he had just spoken to me.

As of that moment, we were boyfriends and I didn’t have a single choice in the matter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remember the reaction I got on Wattpad for thing and people were NOT happy about me making Eren the bottom


	14. Caricature Of Intimacy

Jean and I had spoken in a week following the day he caught Eren and I having sex. I couldn’t look him in the eye without blushing from embarrassment, and he wasn’t speaking to me no matter how much I reached out to talk to him. The lack of conversation about what he witnessed was killing our friendship, a friendship Eren was trying to convince me to let go of.

“Eren, stop being a baby,” I insisted as we walked to the cafeteria for breakfast.

“I’m not being a baby, I just don’t like him and his horse face,” Eren replied.

“He doesn’t look like a horse,” I stated. “And even if he did, that wouldn’t be a good enough excuse to just drop Jean.”

“Well him groping you would be a good reason to drop him,” Eren suggested.

“He didn’t grope me though, that’s what you do,” I reminded him.

“That’s different,” Eren snaked an arm around my waist. “You like it when I do it.”

I blushed and shoved him away. “Pervert.”

We walked into the cafeteria and sat with the guys and started making conversation with them, all except Jean. I snuck a glance at him and saw that he had been staring at Eren with eyes of jealousy. He looked at me and I turned back to what Connie was talking about.

“So, I’ve never done drugs before,” I said, keeping Jean in my peripheral vision.

“Not even the devil’s lettuce?” Reiner asked. “Have you ever even had a cigarette before?”

“Nope and nope. Can’t do drugs or drink excessively,” I explained. “It’s a sin.”

“How did someone so vanilla end up in prison?” Connie teased.

“He’s not _that_ vanilla,” Jean muttered.

I glared at him and replied with, “Why the long face, horse boy?”

The guys were mostly silent, either stifling their laughter or wailing so loud that people looked at our table. Jean glared at me and I smirked in return.

“What, don’t like being called a horse?” I teased him. “Poor Horse-Face, whining over something that doesn’t fucking matter.”

“Oh fuck you,” Jean said before storming off.

Feelings of guilt crept up in my heart and I stood up to follow him before anyone could stop me. I caught up to him at the end of the hallway and grabbed his arm, making him stop in his tracks.

“Why the hell would you say that to me?” Jean asked, his voice sounding bitter.

“Because I was mad at you,” I replied. “You were being an asshole.”

“Like you’re one to talk,” Jean ripped his arm from my grasp and turned to look at me. “You and I haven’t spoken in a week.”

“I couldn’t even look at you!” I yelled. “Every time I would try, I would feel gross because you saw something no one needed to see.”

“I told you I was fine with it!” Jean yelled back, grabbing me by the collar of my jumpsuit.

“Well, you clearly aren’t,” I gritted my teeth. “Are you jealous or something? Is that it?”

“I would never be jealous of that asshole,” Jean said, though I could tell he was lying to me. “He’s nothing but a petty rapist! But then again, so am I…”

He put me down and leaned against the wall, and I joined him. I remembered how insistent he was on figuring out who had beaten me up in the library some time ago and how I was rude to him every time he asked until he eventually gave up on trying to know. I was being an asshole to him and I hadn’t noticed until he told me in that hallway.

“Well at least you didn’t beat me up in the prison library to the point where I was bedridden for a week,” I stated calmly.

Jean looked down at me with furrowed brows. “Eren was the one who did that to you?”

“Yeah, among other things…” My eyes widened when I had recalled my words. “Fuck, I didn’t mean–”

“Armin, what did he do to you?” Jean asked.

“I can’t tell you,” I replied, hanging my head in shame. “It’s not something I can _ever_ tell you, actually…”

Jean lifted my head and gazed into my eyes, much like he’s done before. “You can tell me anything.”

The light gleamed against his eyes once again and the amber hue glittered in my vision, making me blush at how gorgeous he looked. “Eren raped me…He has been ever since I got here.”

I watched his golden eyes switch from care to worry and he pulled me into a hug. Last time this happened, I ran away. This time, however, I stayed in his arms. I had never told anyone that side of me, and I was glad Jean got to learn this information. Being met with sympathy was something I needed at that moment in my life.

“So, what I saw… Was he…?” Jean’s voice cracked a little like he was about to cry.

“No, I consented,” I explained. “We’ve been doing this whole thing for a while now. It’s not a big deal.”

“Armin, he’s your rapist–”

I cut him off, “You wouldn’t understand what we have. He’s one hell of a lover.”

“I didn’t need to know that,” Jean replied. “Armin, just be careful. Eren’s kind of dangerous.”

“Why do you say that?” I responded.

“He’s secretive,” Jean explained. “Like, no one knows much about him and they definitely don’t know why he’s here.”

I recalled their conversation from when I had gotten my tattoo. “Maybe he just doesn’t wanna tell me? People are allowed to have their secrets.”

“Just putting it out there, only pedophiles keep that shit a secret,” Jean patted my shoulder and walked down the hallway back to the cafeteria. “Just don’t get in too deep with someone like him, especially if he’s keeping his reason for getting locked up a secret.”

Eren walked past Jean and the two locked eyes, glaring at each other before walking in opposite directions. The brunette leaned against the wall in front of me, and it was then I remembered how intimidating Eren could be.

“What did you tell him?” He asked. The tone of his voice was innocent and it terrified me to no end.

“Nothing that he would believe,” I answered.

“Good,” Eren kissed my forehead and grabbed my wrist. “Come with me. It’s so boring in the cafeteria.”

I nodded my head and followed him through the prison halls until we reached the showers. No one was in there, meaning Eren and I could do whatever we wanted. I was used to this and grabbed the buttons of my jumpsuit and stripped myself down until I was naked and Eren turned on the water and pulled me closer and made love to me until we had to leave for prior engagements…

I let the hot water glide down my body as I lazily scrubbed my hair with my hands. Eren was over by the benches with a towel and drying himself off. This time around wasn’t as fun for me. I was distracted the whole time we were going at it and the process only took longer than usual, which Eren definitely noticed.

“You took longer than usual,” Eren commented as he dried his chest off. “Am I not arousing you anymore?”

“I wasn’t in the right headspace,” I explained, shutting the shower off. “I was thinking about other things.”

“Like who?” He snapped. “Like Jean?”

“What the fuck? No, Eren!” I insisted as I walked up to him. “I don’t feel that way–”

I was cut off by a slap to the face and managed to catch my balance before I could fall to the ground. He always hit the same cheek over and over so his hits never stung. It was his way of telling me that I fucked up, and he was right. I did fuck up…

“You’re mine, and mine alone. Got that?” He growled, and I nodded my head. “Good, now stop talking to Jean and those other guys. They’re no good for you.”

“Yes, Eren…”

I dried off and redressed myself, leaving Eren in the shower alone. I walked back to the cafeteria and went back to my cell for the day. I was still slightly distracted, even after what happened in the shower. I couldn’t help but think of what Jean had said to me right before he left.

_Just don’t get in too deep with someone like him, especially if he’s keeping his reason for getting locked up a secret…_

Those words ran through my mind while Eren was fucking me. Jean even called him dangerous for keeping secrets. Secrets were never a good thing as I was about honesty. I was honest with Eren (most of the time) especially about how I got here, though he already knew that about me, but he didn’t want to tell me his reason. I severely doubted how close we were because of this and made the decision then and there in my bed.

_Eren Jäger, I’m not gonna have sex with you until you spill your secrets to me._


	15. Build God, Then We'll Talk

I was in the library for my shift a few hours later with Jean who insisted on keeping me company. After what I had told him, I could see why he would want to stay with me. It’s not every day someone explains how they were dating their rapist. He and I just saw things on that matter differently though.

“How much do you know about Eren?” Jean asked as he sat on the table closest to me.

“Not much, other than what you told me,” I replied. “He doesn’t really open up about his personal life that much.”

“I would understand that if he was only in prison for a year but he’s been here for ten years, or so the legend goes,” Jean explained. “Rumour has it he’s been here for longer than that.”

“Could anyone confirm or deny that?” I inquired.

Jean shrugged. “I think most of the people who would know are long gone by now.”

“And I’m sure Levi wouldn’t just give out information like that,” I added.

“You’re still not gonna let him have sex with you, right?” Jean questioned.

“Fuck no,” I answered. “I haven’t exactly told him that though. He won’t kill me, right?”

“If you have to ask me that, should you even be doing it with him in the first place,” Jean stated. “And if he does, he’ll have me to worry about.”

I rolled my eyes, hiding my smile in a stack of books that I was putting away. “Wow, my hero.”

Jean walked up to me and helped to put away the rest of my books. “So, no concrete plan then?”

I shrugged. “I guess not. He could be a pedophile or he could be a normal guy trying to get through his prison sentence.”

“We’ll figure this out.” Jean’s smile could always cheer me up.

I smiled back and put away the last of my books. “Thanks for hanging out with me.”

“No worries. I guess I’ll let you go now,” Jean said as he walked to the door. “Just watch out, okay? You don’t know where he could be lurking.”

“He’s not the boogeyman,” I laughed. “I’ll see ya around!”

“See ya!” Jean waved goodbye before leaving me in the library alone to wait out the rest of my shift.

I couldn’t help but think of what Jean had said to me about Eren’s big secret. He could have been a pedophile and I would have never known. He could have been anything in general. Maybe Jean being in the library with me was better than I originally thought.

I heard the door click open and I turned my head to see that Eren had walked into the library. He spotted me right away and walked up to me.

“Hey,” He smirked, leaning against the bookshelf. “No one else is here.”

“I’m aware,” I replied, ignoring his advances.

He didn’t take the hint and wrapped an arm around my waist. “Go lock the door. I wanna fuck.”

“No, Eren,” I replied, once again ignoring him. “I don’t want to.”

“You’re being rather defiant today,” Eren bellowed.

I could tell he was getting annoyed but I couldn’t back down now. “Whatever. I don’t wanna fuck right now or ever again.”

Eren grabbed my arm tightly and forced me to face him. “What the fuck is your problem?!”

“I don’t have a problem!” I replied, prying his hand off of my arm. “Now let go of me. I have to work.”

“I don’t think so!” He threw me against the table and pinned me by my shoulders. “We either do this the easy way or the painful way. You decide, slut.”

I punched him in the right cheek and he stumbled back, giving me enough time to push him off of me and make a break for the door. I almost made it but just as I was about to grab the door handle, Eren grabbed the back of my collar and pulled me closer to him. He wrapped his arms tightly around me and dragged me back to the tables and held me down against one of them.

“I guess you want it rough today, huh?” Eren whispered as he grabbed at my clothes.

I fought with all my might and managed to hold him off until I heard the door click open. Eren was too in the moment to notice that Jean had walked in and was creeping up behind him, and I took it upon myself to keep Eren distracted until Jean got a clear shot at him.

“Okay, okay!” I said. “I give…”

Eren smirked. “That’s more like it.”

Just as Eren was leaning in to kiss my neck, Jean grabbed an atlas and conked him in the head. With him now distracted, I was able to run off with Jean, leaving Eren in the dust as we took every turn we could to get as far away from the library as possible. We stopped in front of Jean’s cell, out of breath and full of adrenaline.

“Thanks for the save,” I said to Jean, gasping for air.

He gave me a thumbs-up, walked into his cell and sat on his bed. “Have a seat.”

I took up his offer and sat beside him. “I didn’t think I could hold him off, but I did.”

“I take it he didn’t react to your plan well,” Jean leaned back onto his hands and arched his back.

“Nope,” I told him. “I feel like telling him to screw off isn’t enough. Like, I need him to get the reality of the situation and that I don’t wanna fuck him.”

“You could always say you’re straight,” Jean suggested. “Or that you’re fucking someone else.”

“The second option would work, but who would I pick?” I asked. “Who would be the most believable candidate?”

Jean raised his hand. “I mean, he already thinks we’re sleeping together. We can just make it look real.”

“But, don’t you actually like me?” I reminded him. “I would feel weird about using your feelings…”

“Well, you could always return the favour,” Jean wiggled his eyebrows with a sarcastic smile before laughing it off. “I’m just kidding. I don’t mind doing this for you. If it means Eren will stay off your back, I’ll do it.”

“You’re an awesome dude, y’ know that?” I smiled.

“Eh, I’m just myself.” Jean stood up and stretched towards the sky. “Should we tell him now or after we make it look obvious?”

“Let’s wait it out and see what happens,” I replied. “I just need to do this until I figure out why he’s here…”

This process started during the winter, but as the next round of military drills approached, neither of us was closer to figuring out Eren’s reason for imprisonment. Every time I thought we were getting close, our lead ended up being a red herring and we had to start from scratch. We didn’t have much to work on but either way, we were getting nowhere. The only thing that seemed to be working about our plan was how Jean and I were pretending to be lovers to get on Eren’s nerves.

“Eren hasn’t been hanging around as much,” Jean remarked as he and our group ate our lunch.

“He tends to disappear on occasion but he usually comes back after a week or two,” Reiner explained.

“But it’s been over that,” Bertolt responded. “Maybe he’s mad or something?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Connie spoke up. “He’s like a child, honestly.”

“A sex-obsessed child,” I mumbled as I ate my sandwich. “I haven’t even seen him at all today.”

“Let’s not go look for him,” Jean said to me. “We’ll only be wasting our time.”

As if it were in a movie script loaded with tropes, Eren showed up a few seconds later and took a seat across from Jean and me. He looked pissed off at how close he and I were getting to each other, but he didn’t let that shine through for very long.

“Where have you been?” Connie asked excitedly.

“Nowhere, just with Petra,” Eren replied. “Sorry, I mean, Ms. Ral.”

As Eren explained the details of his escapade with our prison’s onsite doctor, the guys were hanging off his every word. Even Jean was listening intently as he told us about the things they did and had been doing. The story went on and by the end, I was furious.

A bell rang and we were all called outside for our daily physical activity. As the guys all started leaving, I pulled Eren back and glared up at him.

“What’s with that look?” Eren smirked.

“You’re fucking the doctor?” I gritted my teeth. ‘Do you know how much trouble she could get into?”

“It doesn’t take much for me to seduce someone,” He leaned closer and his warm breath sent a chill down my spine. “Of course, you already knew that.”

I shoved him away and stomped outside to the basketball court. As much as I wanted to despise him, I couldn’t. I was wrapped around his finger so much so that he made me miss him. He made me regret my choices a little as well. I quickly suppressed the feeling when I saw Jean up ahead and the anger quickly returned.

_Two can play at that game._

I made sure Eren would be close enough to see and I walked up to Jean, pulled him down by the collar of his clothing, and kissed him on the lips. Jean rested his hands on my waist. I didn’t need to check because I could feel Eren sending daggers my way as I made out with Jean on the basketball court.

I pulled away and looked around. Everyone’s eyes were on us, people were looking at us with either disgust or jealousy, but the only person I cared about was Eren and he looked furious, almost as much as when he was giving out the dirty details of his sex life earlier.

Soon afterwards, I let Jean go and sat on the bench, but not before winking at him and slapping his rear. _Don’t fuck with me, Jäger. I’m not someone you should mess with._


	16. Puzzle Pieces

For the next week and a half after I had openly kissed Jean on the basketball court, no one could take their eyes off of me. Wherever I went, people would stare at me and gossip about what they saw. I was uncomfortable with everything, but I didn’t let that be known and eventually, I got over it. Eren would have seen through my plan, and neither Jean nor I wanted that to happen.

“No way your wife is coming to see you!” Jean rolled his eyes.

“You’re married?” I asked.

Connie leaned back in his chair. “Of course I am. My wife is the one who helped me sell drugs in the first place. She’s just in the women’s prison a few miles away.”

“She would have to break out of prison in order to come and visit you,” Reiner remarked. “And I sincerely doubt she’ll do that.”

“Hey, my wife is capable of anything,” Connie retorted. “Besides, she’s been on her best behaviour just so she can visit me today.”

“I betcha ten tattoos that that’s not gonna happen,” Jean said. “Whaddya think, Armin?”

I rolled my eyes and finished my meal. “I don’t gamble.”

“You also don’t kiss guys but apparently that’s wrong too,” Connie snickered, earning a glare from Jean.

“Anyway, why would you bet ten tattoos? Those are so painful,” I responded.

“That’s the point,” Bertolt explained. “It’s painful to get one and you would be getting ten.”

I facepalmed myself. “Oh, okay.”

“Back to my wife, who will be visiting me today–!” Connie spoke up.

“I’ll get in on this,” I shrugged. “I’ll get ten tattoos if she doesn’t come for a visit today.”

Jean and I shook hands. “Deal,” he said.

Suddenly, Levi’s voice was broadcasting over the loudspeaker. “Would the maggot please, Armin Arlert, please report to the visitation centre?”

“I have a fucking name, y’ know,” I groaned as I stood up. “I’ll catch you guys on the flip side.”

I walked out of the cafeteria and through the hallway, passing by the infirmary on my way. I thought back on what Eren had told everyone and how Eren was missing from the table once again. I couldn’t help but look into the room and saw that Ms. Ral was the only person within my field of vision. She was working away at her desk and noticed me standing in the doorway.

“Can I help you?” She asked, looking at me.

“No, I just thought I heard something,” I stepped away from the room. “Carry on.”

I walked down the hallway and made it to the visitation room. As I passed the guard that was overlooking the entrance, the devil himself bumped into me.

“Have someone to visit?” Eren asked me.

“That’s none of your business,” I replied and shoved past him.

I saw that Mikasa was waving me over as she smiled. There was a white guy with her as well and as I got closer, I noticed that she was holding his hand and looked like the man Eren showed me in that photo. This must have been Michael, the guy Eren was in love with years ago.

I picked up the phone and spoke first, “Hey, Mikasa.”

“Hey,” she replied. “Uh, this is Michael, my fiance.”

He waved at me and I returned the gesture before focusing my attention back onto Mikasa. “Any reason for a visit?”

“I need to work on another part of my project and thought that maybe you could be of some assistance,” she replied.

“Sure, ask me anything!” I smiled.

She didn’t have many questions for me, but I answered each one with as much effort as I could muster up. Being the center of a project intrigued me, especially if it was to help improve the mental health of inmates. Michael even asked me some questions too, after explaining he was helping her with her project. I figured that Eren would have been asked the same things since he was only just there.

Mikasa closed her Hilroy journal and stuffed it into her bag. “Thanks for the help.”

“Anything else you need?” I asked.

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about Eren as well,” She explained. “He was in a mood when I talked to him. Like, he mentioned you guys were fighting.”

_ How did I know he would tell Mikasa…?  _ I sighed.

“We are,” I answered. “I’m mad at him and he didn’t take it well when I said that I wanted to go on a break.”

“He was always pretty childish,” Mikasa spoke. “What do you mean by break though? Like, are you guys–”

“No no, nothing like that,” I lied. “We’re just friends! Well, we  _ were  _ just friends…”

“I see, but I wanna know if you could keep an eye on him,” She requested. “I know I sound overbearing but I don’t want Eren to get himself into more shit than he has already. I mean, he’s been sentenced to prison for twenty years, and I don’t want any more time put into that.”

“Hold on, twenty years?” I repeated. “How long has he been here so far?”

“Just under ten,” Mikasa answered. “Why?”

“Can I ask you something personal?” I asked. “What got Eren sent to prison? Like, what did he do?”

Mikasa didn’t answer for a bit and her facial expressions made her look lost in thought. “I don’t exactly know how comfortable I am with just telling you that…”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to, but that’s why he and I are fighting,” I explained. “I’m not comfortable being around someone who isn’t honest.”

“It’s because if he told people what he did, he would get killed,” Mikasa replied. “I can’t talk about it anymore. I’m sorry.”

“No worries,” I smiled. “I shouldn’t keep you guys any longer. I have to get to work soon.”

“No problem! It was nice seeing you again,” Mikasa replied. “Thanks again for letting me interview you.”

I said my goodbyes and hung up the phone before leaving the visitation room to go to the library. Jean was waiting outside for me and we walked down the hallway together.

“So it turns out that Eren’s prison sentence is twenty years and he’s been here for half of that,” I whispered as we approached the library.

“He must have done something really fucked up to get that long of a sentence,” Jean replied. “How did you figure that out?”

“His sister told me,” I explained. “That’s who I went to see.”

“I didn’t know he had a sister, but then again, I don’t know much about Eren,” Jean commented. “Did she tell you what he did?”

“No, only that if he told anybody, he would be killed for it,” I told him as we entered the library. “I’m leaning towards sexual assault of some kind.”

“Knowing our judicial system and how my trial went, I highly doubt he would get twenty years for that,” Jean replied. “I’m leaning to pedophilia.”

“Why that? Isn’t that basically just rape?” I inquired.

“Another unwritten rule, you don’t mess with kids or pregnant women,” Jean explained. “Like, pedophiles don’t last long in here once they’re found out. Same with guys who mess with pregnant women.”

“Alrighty then,” I signed in and grabbed my cart. “Did you figure out if Connie’s wife visited?”

“She didn’t, which means you’re getting ten tattoos in the near future,” Jean smiled giddily. “I won the bet!”

“Alright, alright, I’ll pay up!” I laughed, shoving him away slightly. “If you figure out anything else, just let me know.”

“I will,” Jean replied before walking off to his workstation. “Stay out of trouble now, ya hear?”

I smiled back at him with a sense of determination filling my heart. “Gotcha.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anyone have any guesses as to what Eren did?


	17. Empty Calories

I woke up the next morning with a fried brain, something wasn’t great for a morning of military drills. I was up all night thinking about what Jean and I had talked about. Jean said Eren was a pedophile, and I was inclined to believe him considering he raped me multiple times and would beat me up whenever I didn’t comply, but something was leading me in a different direction and so I ended up only getting three hours of sleep trying to figure out where that direction could have been.

“Kirstein!” Levi yelled as he looked over his clipboard.

“Don’t die,” I yawned, barely awake.

“Says you, pipsqueak,” Jean chuckled, ruffling my bangs. “How’s your hair always so soft?”

I swatted his hand away and smirked. “Just go.”

I watched him jog to the starting line and take off as Levi blew a whistle. All of my friends at the prison were athletic and Jean was no exception. I made sure to stare intently at Jean’s figure to make Eren jealous.

“Stop it with the do-me eyes already and just fuck him,” Connie complained.

I rolled my eyes and looked ahead, seeing that Eren was fuming at me. I smirked in response and turned back to the course. Jean had just finished and was already running back over to our group.

“How did you do?” I asked.

“Not great,” Jean replied as he sat beside me. “I just barely beat my score.”

“You still beat it though,” I smiled, resting my head on his shoulder. “You’re as comfy as my pillow.”

“Given that the pillows we sleep on are harder than rocks, that sounds more insulting than flattering,” Jean laughed, wrapping his arm around my neck. “Is Eren looking at us?”

I checked on the brunette, seeing that he was scowling a little. “Yep. He’s pouting like a bitch.”

“Let’s give him something more to look at…” And Jean leaned in closer and kissed my lips.

“Maggot!” Levi yelled. “Stop whatever it is you’re doing and get up here!”

I pulled away and groaned. “Let’s continue later.”

I dragged myself to the course and stood at the starting line, waiting for Levi to blow the whistle. I was still half asleep and practically falling apart at the seams. He could probably tell I was about to pass out and ended up sending me back to the bench to abstain for the day. Who knew Levi had a heart?

“Lucky you, getting to sit out while everyone else has to run,” Connie whined.

“Oh shut up, you ceramic bitch,” I groaned, leaning onto Jean’s shoulder once again. “It’s not like I planned this. I just had a really late night last night.”

“Here, I’ll get you inside,” Jean said, helping me stand up.

Despite being half awake, I could tell someone was following us but I didn’t want to say anything for fear of me being wrong. The feeling never left me as Jean escorted me inside and to my cell. Soon, I could hear footsteps behind me but I didn’t bother checking behind me as they faded out pretty quickly.

“Here we go,” Jean said upon us arriving at my cell.

“Stick around for a while?” I asked. The footsteps had since long disappeared but that didn’t mean I was comfortable being alone.

“Sure, I have the day off anyway,” Jean agreed, walking inside with me.

As soon as I laid down, I was already drifting off to sleep. “Sorry, I’m just so tired.”

“Have you had anything to eat yet?” Jean asked.

“Nope,” I yawned. “I just wanna sleep.”

“Promise to play basketball with me later?” Jean rubbed circles into my back and smiled down at me. “And get something to eat too.”

“I will,” I yawned and let myself drift off to sleep.

I turned over onto my side to face the wall as I yawned one last time before falling into a peaceful slumber. I just needed a few more hours under my belt to feel fully energized and ready for the day, even if it meant my sleep schedule would be fucked. Jean was right as well; those pillows were harder than rocks. The prison was cheap about what they used like a lot of other prisons were. Everything was a generic brand, even down to the cough medicine they gave out. I was too sleep-deprived to care though and I made the stone pillow work like I did any other night.

I was woken up a few hours later to the feeling of someone shaking my shoulder. It took me a few seconds to turn around but when I did, I saw that Jean was standing next to me. He was wearing a neutral expression but his eyes conveyed lust.

“Is it time for basketball?” I yawned, sitting up and stretching.

“Actually, it’s time for lunch,” Jean replied, holding out his hand to me. “Mr. Ackerman wants everyone to meet there for an important meeting.

“He’s gonna be there in person?” I asked, pulling myself off of the bed. “Must be important.”

Jean and I walked to the cafeteria and saw that everyone in the prison had been gathered to the center of the room where Levi was standing on one of the tables. We met up with Reiner, Bertolt, and Connie, who were just as confused as everyone else in the room. We thought that maybe we wouldn’t get an answer until Levi spoke up.

“I am very sorry to be interrupting your lunch right now, but I need to make a statement,” Levi yelled. “My job here is to keep everyone at the prison safe and comfortable. This could mean taking care of the finances and handpicking everything that comes into this building, but it also means keeping an eye out to eradicate any threats of danger to the lives of the people staying here by enforcing the rules the warden has set into place…”

“Is this just gonna be a vanity speech?” I whispered to the guys.

“It has come to my attention that a certain person has decided that he does not want to follow the rules,” Levi gestured to the door as it swung open and a certain grumpy brunette was thrown into the center of the room. “Mr. Jäger here tried to escape the prison by having certain contraband items smuggled in and must pay for his crimes.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Connie groaned. “That dude has been losing it since he started fucking Ms. Ral.”

“This is only going to make things harder for visits and presents,” Reiner added. “He deserves whatever is coming to him.”

Reiner quickly ate his words as Levi stepped down from the table and kicked Eren in the right cheek, knocking a tooth out of its place. Eren didn’t get the chance to stand up as Levi went back in again, beating the brunette to a pulp. I was disgusted by the entire thing, though I should have been silently cheering.

I motioned to run up to Eren, but Jean held me back with a tight grip. “Let me go!”

“Armin, stop!” Jean growled. “He’s not worth the effort!”

I averted my gaze and clung to Jean as I held back any tears that were forming in my eyes. I couldn’t stand Eren, but he didn’t deserve to be wailed on over and over. I heard the noises die down and I looked at the aftermath of Levi’s reckless actions, and the end resulted in a lot of blood on the floor.

“I never want an unfathomably stupid event like this to happen ever again.  _ Ever! _ ” Levi threatened. “The next time I catch any of you trying to MacGuyver your way out of my prison, a lashing will be the least of your worries!"

“This ain’t your prison, dickweed!” Eren coughed, blood dripping from his mouth to the floor.

“It is while the warden isn’t on duty,” Levi scowled as he walked out of the cafeteria. “You may enjoy your lunch now if you can.”

“Emphasis on if,” Jean muttered, letting me go. “Now do you wanna go up to him?”

I bit the inside of my cheek and walked up to Eren, who was having trouble standing on his own. Our eyes locked together as I held out a hand for him to grab. He smiled, something I hadn’t seen him do in a long time, and grabbed my hand to pull himself up.

“You gonna be my knight and shining armour?” He asked.

I rolled my eyes and started walking towards the open doorway. “Just follow me.”

I walked slightly ahead of him as I escorted the brunette to the infirmary. I was silent, mostly just pretending that Eren wasn’t behind me. As much as I wanted to ignore his existence though, Eren would  _ not  _ stop trying to make conversation with me.

“So, that was quite the fight that happened,” Eren spoke up.

_ Don’t answer him. _

“I’ve never had that happened before,” he continued.

_ Just pretend he isn’t there. _

“Fine,” Eren groaned. “I guess you don’t wanna know why I tried to smuggle shit in.”

“To break out of prison,” I snapped. “I kind of figured, you fucking idiot.”

“That’s no way to talk to your boyfriend,” Eren said.

I stopped in my tracks and spun around to glare at him. “I’m not your fucking boyfriend. I never even agreed to be your sex slave, let alone your boyfriend. Besides, I don’t need you.”

“Please, you need me,” Eren’s whisper sent chills down my spine as he leaned closer to me. “You’re worth nothing otherwise.”

“Jean doesn’t think so,” I retorted. “Now go in the fucking office and do whatever it is you do with Ms. Ral, fucking dipshit.”

“I’ll wait as long as it takes, blondie,” Eren called as I ran back the way I came. “Don’t go too crazy without me!”

His voice echoed in my mind as I entered the cafeteria, slowing to a stop just after the doorway. I made my way to where my friends were sitting and they saw how livid I was. I brushed off any questions my friends had to say, only remembering Eren.

_ Don’t go too crazy without me! _

I rested my head on the table. He was driving me crazy, not only because of his lack of transparency but now because he pulled Ms. Ral into his crazy schemes. That annoyed me the most, as it sparks flames of jealousy in my heart.

_ It's not like he's crawling back to me and begging for forgiveness, but it hurts to know. Why does it hurt to know…? _


	18. Criminal Intent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm popping up here to say that after this chapter, Prison Soap will return to a monthly publication due to me not having very many prewritten chapters. I'll also be posting here a few days after posting on Wattpad (my main website) so if you really wanna read the latest chapter, follow me on Wattpad for instant notifications every time I publish!

I groaned in discomfort as Eld’s needles pierced my skin. This was my third out of ten tattoos that I promised I would get. I had to walk in every week for the next few weeks until I had paid my end of the bargain. Having to sit through a bunch of appointments wasn’t my favourite thing ever, but at least I got to hang out with Eld once a week.

“And you’re done,” Eld stated as he wiped down my shoulder blades with a damp cloth. “Grab the mirror and have a look.”

I grabbed the mirror from his hands and propped it against the wall and looked over my shoulder. I had asked for a pair of angel wings and Eld delivered above my expectations once again.

“I love it,” I responded.

“You say that every time but I always know you mean it,” Eld said as he cleaned his tools with rubbing alcohol. “How are the other two I gave you last week?”

I looked at my wrist and my ankle. If I had gotten small enough designs, Eld would do two for me instead of making me wait a week in between each appointment. I had gotten a watercolour butterfly on my ankle and the triforce of wisdom on my left wrist (I had a soft spot for The Legend of Zelda series.)

“Not too bad,” I replied. “They’re peeling a bit but you told me that that’s normal.”

“You mentioned wanting a sleeve at some point?” Eld asked. “I can do that for you next week if you wanted me to.”

“I was gonna save that for my final appointment. I still don’t know what to get,” I explained, handing Eld his mirror. “I gotta head out.”

“No worries, I’ll see you next week.”

I waved goodbye and walked into the hallway once I was redressed and I met up with Jean, who had been waiting outside the doorway for me. “How long were you there?”

“A few hours but it was worth it,” Jean replied. “I’m starving. Let’s get some supper.”

“I haven’t eaten since last night,” I stated as my stomach growled. “What is it today?”

Jean shrugged in response and the two of us walked together in silence. We didn’t have anything to discuss since we hadn’t gotten any further on the whole Eren argument and neither Jean nor I liked small talk.

Speaking of Eren, upon arriving at the cafeteria, we noticed that he was off by himself at a different table. He looked like he was waiting for something, or rather someone because he spotted us and stood up.

“Hey!” Eren greeted me specifically. “Heard you got some new ink.”

Jean was about to lunge at him, but I sent him away so Eren and I could talk. “What do you want, Eren?”

“You,” he replied.

“You miss me too much?” I rolled my eyes and walked past him. “I don’t have time for this.”

“I’m serious,” Eren insisted, grabbing my wrist. “Ms. Ral is good, don’t get me wrong, but she’s not as good as you.”

I swallowed my jealousy and pulled out of his grip. “I _seriously_ don’t have time for this.”

I didn’t wait for any response and I walked to my table and sat with my friends. I covered my mouth to hide the intense scowl I was displaying and let myself easy into Reiner’s conversation. He was talking about getting a piercing and it sparked a debate among the group regarding piercings.

“Nah, dude! Don’t get a piercing! My wife has a thing for those kinds of guys!” Connie insisted.

“Dude, I’m not gonna steal your wife,” Reiner laughed. “I’m too busy stealing young men’s hearts and making them question their sexualities.”

Bertolt smacked Reiner upside the head. “What he meant to say was that he just wants to get a piercing.”

“I hadn’t really thought about it,” I interjected. “Maybe I should get one?”

“You with a piercing?” Connie asked, visibly holding back his laughter.

“What? I wanna look cool too!” I yelled.

“Don’t be offended, but you just seem so…” Reiner vaguely shrugged as if he was trying to tell me something.

“So what?” I asked.

“Innocent,” All the guys replied simultaneously.

Just as I was about to retort, the loudspeaker turned on and Levi’s voice filled the room. “Would Armin Arlert report to the visitation room?”

“Thank God he didn’t call me Maggot,” I huffed. “I’ll deal with you guys later.”

I walked down to the visitation room and the guard let me in. I felt a sense of deja vu when I saw Mikasa sitting on the other side of the plexiglass wall holding the phone with an uneasy look on her face. I didn’t keep her waiting and I sat across from her and picked up the phone.

“Hey,” I said. “You’ve been visiting a lot recently.”

“I thought about what you said last time, about wanting to know about my brother,” Mikasa stated. “I can’t tell you exactly, but I can tell you a couple of things.”

“Anything would be helpful…”

I sat and listened to Mikasa as she gave me hints and details on Eren’s past. She wouldn’t say exactly what had happened to get him locked up, but she brought up religion, something I wasn’t aware that Eren had practiced. She brought up the commandments as well, citing the ones about murder and adultery specifically.

“I’ve said too much, I should go,” Mikasa said, putting her coat on. “Michael and I have an appointment with my doctor.”

“What for?” I asked.

“My pregnancy, now I have to go,” Mikasa explained. “It was nice seeing you.”

“Good luck with your appointment…”

I left the room and made my way back to the cafeteria, contemplating Mikasa’s words. I couldn’t exactly wrap my head around it at first and then I entered the cafeteria and was hit with an epiphany. Everyone at the table noticed my fixed stare on Eren.

“I know why Eren is here,” was all I said before pulling the guys closer and explaining my inner theory…

Jean stood up and called to the brunette in question. “Hey, Eren!”

I followed Jean over to the center of the cafeteria where Eren met us. “Jean, this isn’t a good idea.”

“I got this,” Jean assured me. “So, you’re a rapist _and_ a murderer, huh?”

“Did that blonde weasel tell you that?” Eren sneered. “You can’t trust anything he says.”

“He knows why you’re in prison,” Jean smirked. “Pieced it all together himself, with the help of your sister.”

Eren squinted at Jean before looking down at me. “How is my little sister, Armin?”

“She’s having a baby,” I replied.

Eren scoffed. “Figures. Now, tell me all about how I was thrown into prison, Jean.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Jean smiled.

_This is gonna get ugly…_

"Well, one night when you went out to a party with your friends, you found a person and thought you would try to score. When you didn't get what you wanted, you decided to wait for them to leave, raped them before finally killing the poor person since you didn't want them blabbing to their friends about what you had done. But then someone found you and you were hauled off to jail slash holding and was rooming with a cellmate named Buffalo Bill," Jean smugly retorted.

I facepalmed myself. I did _not_ tell him the part about the jail holding thing or about rooming with a cellmate named Buffalo Bill. I don't even know where that came from. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me…” I muttered to myself until Eren had started laughing and attracted the attention of others.

“You think rape and murder are funny?” Jean growled. “Out with it, am I right or not?”

“I surprised you got the Buffalo Bill part right, but you’re way off on everything else,” Eren chuckled. “You should see the look on your face too!”

“What look?” Jean bellowed.

“The one you’ll have after I’m done with you,” and then Eren swung his fists at Jean.

People started crowding and cheering the men on as they wrestled each other on the ground. This wasn’t how the plan was supposed to go and I had to keep it from getting out of control. I grabbed Eren by the straps of his tank top and pulled with all my might, only to be elbowed in the face on return.

Eren looked back and saw that I had clutched my face in my hand as I hissed at the pain. Before anything else could happen, Levi burst into the cafeteria with fire in his eyes.

“Showers! Now!” He boomed, prompting everyone to run off, including me.

I seethe in anger as I wash myself off. I wouldn’t speak to anyone in the room. I’d rather it if people just left me alone so I didn’t make the effort to answer anyone’s questions. My face stung as well from Eren’s elbow coming into contact with my face, and it only made me more furious.

I glared over at Eren. He and I were the last ones to leave the showers and as much as I wanted to ignore him, I couldn’t look away. I couldn’t get him out of my mind. He was arrogant, malicious, and proved to be quite the troublemaker, but I just couldn’t stop fantasizing about him.

I bit my lip as I watched him and eventually gave in to my desires. _I can’t hold back anymore._


	19. I'm The Bad Guy, Duh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Missed the upload date but I wanna say that this will return to a monthly schedule as I don't have many pre-written chapters. And thank you for over 1k hits!

I glared over at Eren. He and I were the last ones to leave the showers and as much as I wanted to ignore him, I couldn’t look away. I couldn’t get him out of my mind. He was arrogant, malicious, and proved to be quite the troublemaker, but I just couldn’t stop fantasizing about him.

I bit my lip as I watched him and eventually gave in to my desires.  _ I can’t hold back anymore. _

Before Eren could walk off, I made my way over and pulled him away from the opening to where we would usually have sex and pushed him up against the wall. I didn’t waste any time and got down onto my knees and got to work getting my desires out of my system.

“Well aren’t you eager,” Eren spoke through quiet moaning.

I didn’t respond but instead took his cock onto my mouth, bobbing my head as I stroked him with my tongue. I pressed my hands against his thighs and held him against the shower wall as the water splashed against the ground and flowed into the drain beneath us. Hearing him moan and feeling his legs shake under my touch was heating things for me even more.

Once I felt satisfied with my work, I pulled back and kissed up his body until I was standing in front of him. “Do as I say.”

“I like it when you take control,” Eren smirked, biting his lip.

“I’ll be your animal,” I replied, leaning closer to his neck.

My teeth latched to his neck and I sucked on his skin, making sure to leave a mark. I kissed my way back up to his lips as my hands travelled down his body to his hard erection and started stroking it. Eren moaned into our kiss as a result but soon parted from my lips and pushed me up against the wall, grabbing my thighs and suspending my body from the floor.

“I thought  _ I  _ was in control,” I groaned.

“You’re irresistible though,” he replied, slipping a finger inside of me. “I wanna fuck you so bad.”

“Then do it,” I whispered. “You’re not just all talk, are you?”

Eren plunged his fingers into me, pressing his body up against me for extra support in holding me up, and he caused me to cry out in pleasure as he pressed his fingertips against my prostate repeatedly. He added one more, making me scream in ecstasy as his fingers plunged deeper and deeper inside of me. But I went to him for something specific, and I was going to get it even if I had to push things along faster than his usual pace.

“Fuck, I want it!” I moaned.

“You’re so demanding,” Eren replied but willingly complied with my request.

He pulled his fingers out of my backside and replaced them with his hard member, every thrust growing harder and faster as his hands clamped down onto the backs of my thighs. It was rough but without any lubrication whatsoever, it wouldn’t be smooth sailing. Case in point, I was going to feel it for the next few days.

Then, Eren pulled out of me and set me down. “What if you rode me?”

“I thought only girls did that,” I replied as I was set back onto the floor once again.

“Don’t tell me you’re backing out,” Eren pulled a serious tone as he glared down at me. “Sounds like you’re the one that’s all talk.”

Determined to get this out of my system, I tackled Eren and sent him to the ground. I positioned myself so that I was right above his hard cock before slowly easing myself onto it and I let out a lustful hum as his girth filled my cavity.

“Fuck,” I breathed out.

I balanced myself and lifted my body up and then slid back down onto him slowly at first until I found a rhythm and started to pick up the pace. Eren rested his hands on my hips to keep me stable as I rocked them back and forth and stared down at Eren. His emerald eyes locked with mine as his grip on me became tighter, and then he held me in place so that I could no longer move.

I curled my eyebrow quizzically but gasped as Eren started thrusting into me. I leaned backwards onto my hands as his skin slapped against mine. I bit my lip and silenced any shrieks I would have made. Instead, I dug my nails into Eren’s thighs as I felt knots tangling up in my stomach.

With one final cry of pleasure, I threw my head back in ecstasy and felt my thick white liquor spill onto Eren’s chest. The brunette grunted as he pounded into me a couple more times and I slumped over onto him to lay my head on his chest. Gasps of air escaped me as I felt Eren’s chest rise and fall to the rhythm of his breathing. It wasn’t a long embrace as I pushed myself off of him and stood up to turn on the shower and wash myself off.

“You satisfied now, slut?” Eren commented, his hot breath grazing my wet skin.

“Get off of me,” I growled.

“Whatever. You know you can’t resist me forever.”

“What makes you think I can’t?” I snapped.

“What did we just do?” Eren replied. “I don’t need you though. I have Petra for that.”

I glared at him as he shut his shower off and walked to get dried off and dressed, leaving me standing under the hot running water. What we did was nothing more than a fluke and I was determined to prove him wrong. I didn’t need him, and I finished my shower in peace until it was nearly time to retreat to my cell for the night.

_ I’ll show you, Jäger. I’ll show you… _ I thought as I faced the wall and ignored Eren for the rest of the night.

The next morning as I was sitting with Jean and the guys during breakfast, I started explaining to Jean about the mistake I had made the previous night.

“I don’t regret my decision one bit,” I stated defensively. “We all have needs and I needed to fulfill mine.”

“You could have fulfilled them with someone else. Y’ know,” Jean pointed at himself. “With me.”

“We just kiss and stuff, Jean,” I told him.

“You keep forgetting how I feel about you,” he sighed. “God, that sounded so selfish.”

“It’s not, but considering that we started doing things with the intent of making Eren jealous, anything beyond that would only make things complicated,” I explained. “And I haven’t forgotten about your feelings for me. I just don’t want you to get screwed over by me.”

“That would never happen,” Jean insisted. “Nothing you could ever do would screw me over.”

I gave Jean a half-smile. “I appreciate the sentiment.”

I looked over to the table across from ours and saw Eren staring at me. He had an eerie grin on his face that sent shivers down my back. I grimaced in his direction before turning back to Jean and leaning against his chest.

“Is Eren watching?” Jean asked, wrapping his arm around me.

I nodded against him. “I don’t like the way he’s looking at me.”

“We need to go see Eld soon anyway, let’s just go now,” he stated.

I stood up and followed him out the door to Eld’s chambers where the blonde man was sketching something into some paper. He invited us inside and pulled out a sleeve design from his folder as well as a smaller-looking tattoo design that I could put in discrete locations on my body.

“You ready to get started?” Eld asked, cleaning his tools with soapy water and alcohol.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied, hiding my anxiety as best as I could. “Can we start with a smaller tattoo? I wanna work up to the more painful one.”

“I’ll be as gentle as I possibly can, just let me know if it’s too much,” Eld said as he started stabbing his tools into my neck. “And stop breathing so much.”

I held still and breathed as soft as someone getting a stick and poke tattoo could. Because of how I was positioned, I was forced to look out into the hallway and watch the people pass by. Some would stop to look, others didn’t care, but one person kept circling back around every so often. It was like he was torturing me with just his fleeting presence.

Soon, Eld was finished and wiped off my neck and his tools with his towel before laying me down on my back. I looked into the hallway again and saw that he had disappeared.

Jean noticed and looked behind me, seeing the man as well. “Get out of here, Eren. We don’t want you here.”

“I’m here for an appointment,” Eren replied. “Name an opening and I’ll be there.”

“I’m booked up for the next while, you’re shit out of luck, buddy,” Eld replied.

Eren shrugged and waved at me before leaving me and Jean behind as he walked off towards the cafeteria. I didn’t think my neutral mood could be brought down any lower than it was but Eren was full of surprises. He knew how to control every aspect of me, but I couldn’t let him get away with it this time.

“Eld, could I request a face tattoo?” I asked politely.

“What would you put on your face exactly?” Eld asked, still stabbing needles into my back.

And with as much confidence that I could muster, I asked Eld, “Are there tattoos that mean you were raped?”


	20. Special Victims Unit

A few weeks after my sexual escapade with Eren, I found myself in the hot seat sitting across from Levi in his office. I had been there for fifteen minutes and he didn’t say a word to me. He only stared me down with his hands clasped together on his desk. He even made me sit in a toddler’s chair so he could look down at me from his office chair. I never thought that someone so short could be so intimidating.

“Mr. Ackerman, why am I here exactly?” I asked, shifting in the small chair.

He stared at me for a little longer before leaning back and grabbing a folder from his filing cabinet. “You have no criminal record and yet you’re locked up in a maximum-security prison for the next twenty-five years because you murdered your best friend.”

“Is this going somewhere?” I asked him.

He shushed me like a teacher would do to their students. “I still can’t figure out how you got your ass sent to prison for a crime you, statistically speaking, would never commit. It’s probably a good thing that those detectives are trying to get you out of here then.”

I shrugged. “It would be nice to know that the courts believe me.”

“Your police department there must be corrupt to hell and back, huh,” Levi said, looking into the folder he had pulled out earlier. “Worked at a bank, went to church every Sunday, you seemed so perfect. But, now you’re in here.”

I kept quiet, not knowing how I could add to his train of thought. I expected to be getting yelled at for indirectly starting a prison fight in the cafeteria but none of that happened. He just spoke on how I didn’t seem like the type to be a murderer. Ted Bundy got away with so many murders because people thought he wouldn’t ever hurt a fly, but I didn’t tell him that.

“Was there anything else you wanted to tell me?” I asked Levi, looking at the clock. “I need to get to the library.”

“You’re actually getting the day off,” Levi replied. “I noticed the teardrop tattoo on your face.”

I flinched and covered it up. “I can explain–”

“No need, I know what that means,” Levi cut me off. “Is there anything I can do to help you? We don’t have much for mental health but I can schedule regular appointments with the doctor if you would like.”

I shook my head. “It wasn’t rape.”

“Then why did you get that teardrop?” Levi asked.

“I got it so people would stay away,” I lied. “I heard that’s how you can keep people from bothering you.”

Levi sighed, visibly frustrated. “Okay, I won’t make you tell me.”

I went to stand up but Levi glared at me, forcing me to sit back down with his eyes. “Was there anything else you wanted to tell me?”

“Just that you can’t hide from the truth forever,” Levi replied. “Those detectives wanna talk to you again. Apparently, it’s urgent so I suggest running out of here before I put you on kitchen duty for the rest of the year.”

My eyes lit up and stood up from my chair. “Thank you, sir!”

I bolted from his office to the visitation room, weaving around people and entering the room with the permission of the guard standing by the door. Det. Zoe sat on the other side of the plastic wall by themselves and waved at me with a smile.

I walked over, took a seat and picked up the phone. “Hello.”

“Good afternoon,” They replied. “We have some new info for you.”

“I heard,” I slumped back in my chair. “Tell me more.”

Det. Zoe opened the folder on the counter in front of them, looking through its contents and pulling out everything they needed. “One of the bartenders saw her with a girl who looked like this…” They held up a sketch of a woman with hair pulled into two loose pigtails and large eyes. “The bartender and bouncer confirmed that she left with her that night.”

I recognized her from the shape of her face and the innocent look in her eyes. “That’s Mina, those two were friends. What does she have to do with this?”

“I was getting there,” Det. Zoe continued. “We went to her apartment to ask her about that night, but she didn’t remember any of it except right before when She and Krista started drinking.”

“I’m still having a hard time adjusting to the idea of it,” I stated. “She never went to places that would have drugs. Neither of them did.”

“You can find drugs anywhere, Armin. I’ve busted a guy for drug dealing in a church before,” They explained. “I have more evidence I’d like to share with you though.”

“Please, keep going,” I encouraged.

Det. Zoe held another crude portrait up to the plexiglass. “Do you recognize this man?”

I shook my head in response.

“It was worth a shot. His name is Boris Feulner,” They replied. “He was seen leaving right after the girls did. The bartender and bouncer confirmed that this man was a regular at the bar. Mina remembered him.”

“He didn’t do anything to them, did he?” I asked.

“We don’t know,” Det. Zoe replied. “He was found dead in his apartment a couple of days ago. His throat was slit and we’re pretty sure it wasn’t suicide.”

“Why did he follow them?” I asked, fearing the worst.

“He called them a cab and waited with them until they got picked up and then went back inside,” They revealed. “If you’re worried about rape, we did a rape kit on both the girls of intercourse nor did we find any semen inside of Krista.”

I sighed in relief. “Thank God.”

“Thank him once we’re finished. One last thing…” They held up a bag with a tuft of black hair inside of it. “Krista had this clutched in her hand when we did the post mortem.”

“Is that Mina’s hair?” I asked, feeling worried once again.

“Her hair is too long so no. I’ve got my team working on it right now and it shouldn’t take too long,” They replied, storing the evidence back into its folder. “Unfortunately, I don’t have anything else to tell you.”

“Thank you. Have a nice day,” I stood up from my chair and turned to leave.

“Happy birthday, by the way,” Det. Zoe said. “Or I guess, happy late birthday.”

“When was it my birthday?” I asked.

“November third. It looks like you’re twenty-three now,” They said as they packed everything up. “I’ll see you again once I have more updates, and hopefully we’ll have caught the killer by that point.”

I said my final goodbyes and parted ways from the detective and made my way to the basketball court outside. The guys had told me to meet them there after Levi had let me go and I saw them over at one of the nets shooting hoops and playing Horse.

Jean looked over his shoulder and saw me running up to them. “There’s the coconut head!”

“Did Ackerman rip you a new one?” Connie asked, missing a basket.

“Not really but that’s not important,” I replied. “Apparently it was my birthday like, months ago and I’m twenty-three now.”

“Nice! Celebrating prisons in birthdays is the best part about prison,” Bertolt spoke up. “Every year, we get the kitchen staff to sneak in baked goods and birthday cake ingredients to celebrate Reiner’s birthday.”

“That’s coming up soon too. We should start planning for that,” Reiner added. “Enough about me though. Let’s keep playing. You gonna join, Armin?”

I was about to speak up and say yes but Jean said, “Just give him and I a minute.”

Jean pulled me towards the bleachers and sat me down on the first level. That was when I noticed he had something in his pocket and pulled out a makeshift cardboard box.

“I got you something,” he whispered. “Open it.”

I unfolded the flaps of the box and pulled out a Gulf Oyster Drill shell, one of those shells you could put up to your ear to hear the ocean. “Wow, it’s so beautiful.”

“I had it smuggled in for you. I was gonna wait until your actual birthday but I couldn’t let it sit under my bed anymore,” He smiled down at me. “I hope you like it.”

I wrapped him in a hug and kissed his cheek. “I love it.”

I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Eren was staring at us and I immediately pulled away from Jean. Ever since Eren and I had sex, he made me feel uncomfortable showing emotion to anyone else. It made me freak out and I would often stop conversations with Jean or even leave when he was staring at me that intensely. It was like I was slowly being wrapped around his finger once again.

Jean looked over in the direction where Eren was and frowned angrily upon seeing him. He pulled me back and hugged me to help me calm down, and he kissed the top of my head.

“Don’t pay any attention to him, okay?” Jean whispered.

I nodded against his chest and we stayed on the bleachers for the rest of our time outside before going in and having supper. As I ate my bland meal, I couldn’t stop thinking about how I was feeling. I was with Jean, not officially but others were aware of how close we were to each other, but Eren wouldn’t leave my thoughts. I was slowly becoming enticed by his actions again, and I didn’t know how to stop thinking about his movements, his body, his everything.

_ I need to stop, but how? _


	21. Godforsaken Precipice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween! Enjoy an extra chapter and tomorrow we'll be returning back to our monthly schedule :)

“Eld, do you know any guys that do piercings here?” I asked as I maintained a neutral expression while being stabbed with needles.

Eld looked up from his work and our eyes connected. “My friend, Gunther. He lives just down the hall.”

“You want a piercing?” Jean asked. He was with me for my final tattoo appointment.

I nodded my head. “Remember when we all talked about getting piercings?”

“Reiner was the only person who was serious about that, Armin. Where would you even get your piercing? On your dick?” Jean groaned.

“Speaking of dicks, you’re being one right now,” I retorted. “I’m not even sure if I wanna get a piercing. I was just asking about it.”

“I’m sorry, you’ve just been kinda strange since you were last with Eren,” Jean replied. “You just seem more impulsive lately.”

“What does _that_ have to do with my wanting to get a piercing?” I yelled.

“So you _do_ wanna get a piercing!” He yelled in return.

“Either you two shut the fuck up or I kick you both out, take your pick,” Eld interrupted as he pressed his needle into my arm. “And I’m sure Gunther will give you a piercing if you bend over and beg for it.”

I rolled my eyes and looked over at Jean. “I’m sorry.”

“I am too,” he groaned. He probably didn’t appreciate being spoken to like a child who stole from the cookie jar but I didn’t appreciate him shaming my latest decisions so he would have to make do.

I didn’t bother responding after that and let Eld work on my tattoo sleeve in peace. Jean and I had been fighting more and more after my sexual encounter with Eren and he thought I was lashing out because I was still frustrated with him. Of course, I was frustrated. He had tricked me into wanting sex from him for fuck sake, but Jean got the brunt of it though when I was modifying my body in my spare time.

“I’m still trying to figure out why he’s here,” I spoke to Jean.

Jean furrowed his eyebrows at me in return. “Armin, you can’t let it control you.”

“I’m not doing it on purpose,” I replied. “When I fixate on something, I’m stuck there until it works out in the end. That’s just who I am.”

“Maybe Eren should be the one to break the cycle this time,” Jean insisted. “He’ll eat you alive if you don’t, Armin.”

I sighed, knowing that he was right. “I’ll try my best to do that.”

Soon enough, with one final poke, Eld retracted his tools and wiped off my arm. “And that’s the last one.”

Armin looked in the mirror and smiled at the coy fish on his arm. “Amazing as always. Oh, Eld, what will I ever do without you?”

“Oh please, you’ll be fine,” Eld chuckled. “I gotta get some drawing done.”

“Thanks again,” I said before leaving with Jean.

“You got all ten done, how does that feel?” Jean ruffled my hair with his fingers. “Looks like you need a haircut.”

“I’ve been wanting to grow it out again,” I replied. “I used to have it down to my chest in high school and university. It made a lot of people think I was gay.”

“Interesting that you bring that up, I was wondering if you were gay or not,” Jean looked down at me with brightly lit amber eyes. “You were never turned off by the idea of me flirting with you, and when you and Eren were doing things you seemed sorta into it.”

I shrugged. “I hadn’t really thought about it, honestly. I always grew up with the idea that if I love someone, I love them. I never really thought about gender preferences that much. And even if I were straight, why would I be offended by a handsome man flirting with me?”

“I see your point. It’s just something I was curious about. My female students were very smitten with me,” Jean explained. “The number of love letters I had to throw out just so I wouldn’t get into any trouble was way too many. I don’t know, maybe it was because they were children but I’ve never been attracted to girls once in my life.”

I shrugged. “Neither have I but I haven’t lived long enough to be sure of my sexuality.”

It was a silent walk after that as I stopped in front of the library. Jean invited himself in after me and walked to the horror section to look around. I punched in for work and walked to Jean and grabbed _Carrie_. My cart was empty so I had the time to goof off if I wanted to.

“Do you think I would look good with a piercing?” I asked as I turned the pages of my book.

Not looking away from the pages of Ray Bradbury’s _Something Wicked This Way Comes_ , Jean shrugged and replied with, “Maybe nothing too crazy.”

“I wasn’t gonna get a piercing on my dick, if that’s what you’re worried about,” I chuckled.

“I think the only person who would get something like that would be Reiner. He would even take pride in the fact that he was _brave enough_ to do it,” Jean smiled and looked up at me. “You look so cute.”

I smiled and looked into my book. “How is it that I look cute?”

“You fit that innocent-looking librarian image very well,” Jean smirked.

“I’m not _that_ innocent,” I insisted.

“Okay, Britney,” Jean replied and I reached over the table to hit his arm.

“You’re _so_ hilarious,” I told him with a sarcastic tone of voice. “Britney Spears has brown eyes.”

We both quieted down and focused on reading our respective book choices. I ended up finishing first because I had already read this Stephen King book in particular. I caught myself mumbling about the colour of her dress and hoped Jean didn’t hear me. I still wasn’t really used to having another person in the library with me while I was reading and because I would forget I’m not alone, I would talk to myself. It wasn’t like I would yell (remember, I was in a library) but I wasn’t exactly whispering either.

“Do you always talk to yourself?” Jean asked as he closed his book.

“I zone out and just forget that I’m not alone,” I answered. “I wasn’t bothering you, was I?”

“Not at all! You’re very intriguing to listen to,” Jean licked his lower lip and stood up to return his book to the shelf.

I followed him with mine. “Hearing me talk about Carrie’s dress is intriguing?”

Then, the light glimmered in his amber eyes, bringing out that rich golden colour I loved so dearly. “I love anything you do.”

I couldn’t resist at that moment and reached up and pulled him closer into a kiss. The moment intensified quickly as Jean wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me up against his body. My fingers were laced in his hair as I felt his lips pull away from mine and plant them onto my neck, my body pulsating from the overwhelming sensation.

Jean picked me up and took me to a table, placing me near the edge so that my legs were dangling off the table. “Not scared that someone’s gonna walk in?” he asked.

“Not at all,” I replied. “Though, we can’t do much since that door is made mostly of glass.”

Jean leaned over top of me, forcing me onto my back. “How much do you want?”

I bit my lip and grabbed for my buttons, undoing each one. I took hold of Jean’s wrist and let him dip his hand into my underwear. He knew what to do from there and kissed me as he started rubbing my dick to make it grow and I covered my mouth with my hand to muffle any noise.

“Fuck me,” I said, only noticing it after the fact.

Jean stopped and looked me dead in the eye. “We can’t here. I mean, I wanna do it with you but we’d have to wait for the right opportunity.”

Suddenly, the loudspeaker came on and Levi’s voice rang through the library and ruined the mood for us. “Attention, inmates! Tomorrow, we’ll be taking a bus to our sister-location, the Sina Rehabilitation Center for Women and returning at three in the afternoon so you have enough time for supper. We’re waking up early tomorrow so get some rest tonight!”

I stood up and redressed myself. “How about we do it after the trip tomorrow? We could sneak off while everyone is busy with work.”

I could see Jean’s eyes light up with most likely joy and he enthusiastically agreed though it made me feel slightly guilty. He wrapped his arms around me which only added to the amount of guilt I was feeling as he kissed my lips and whispered the phrase that was the kiss of death, “I love you.”

And I responded in the only way I knew, “I love you too.”


	22. A Kiss May Be Grand, But It Won't Win Me Over

True to his word, Levi woke us up at the crack of dawn and got us ready for our day trip to the women’s prison. I couldn’t sleep that night though so I was already awake. I couldn't stop thinking about what I had suggested to Jean. It was as if I had lost all self-respect.

_I honestly don't know if I wanna sleep with him but it's not like I can back out without him being suspicious._

Levi had us loaded onto a few prison buses and we were on the road within the hour. Jean sat next to me with his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close so that our bodies were touching. We had just gotten intimate and he was already being so forward.

_I love you._

I cringed inwardly as I remembered what Jean had said to me before we parted ways. He couldn’t love me, we weren’t even dating. The worst part about it all was that I said it back to him. You can’t take that back once it’s out there or else you would be a total asshole. I was stuck though. If I didn’t tell him how uncomfortable I was with the phrase, I would still be the asshole because I led him on.

_You just need to tell him before you guys have sex. You got this!_

“You’re being awfully quiet,” Jean spoke up.

“I’m just tired,” I replied. Considering that I didn’t sleep, I was telling at least some of the truth.

“How did you sleep last night?” Jean continued.

“I didn’t,” I bellowed. “I just hope I don’t have to do anything stressful today.”

“Levi seems to let you off easy when you’re feeling tired so maybe he’ll give you a pass?” Jean squeezed his arm slightly and kissed the top of my head. “I’m always able to help if you need it as well.”

“Thanks,” I let my head fall onto his chest and watched the monochrome layout of the desert pass by in the bus window.

_I need to tell him soon. It’s the right thing to do in this situation…_

“I love you,” Jean said.

Like the idiot I was, I replied, “I love you too.”

_Stop digging yourself into a fucking hole, Armin!_

The bus stopped in front of a building that looked similar to the prison where I was residing. Same chain link fence, same brick walls, everything was identical. All except for the sign which read, _Wall Sina Rehabilitation Centre for Women._

“Looks comfy,” Jean observed as he stepped off the bus after me.

“Women are babied in the criminal justice system,” Reiner spoke up.

“I prefer it that way. I wouldn't want my wife getting shitty treatment for something she had barely any part of,” Connie added. “And there she is now!”

A woman with her brown hair tied up into a ponytail ran across the sandy ground and pounced onto Connie as she started yelling at him in either Spanish or Portuguese, and the only English I heard was, “Connie, what on God's green Earth are you doing here?!”

“Sasha, meet the guys first,” Connie insisted.

His wife made a beeline towards me. “What’s with the prison tats?”

“Um–”

“She means well. They just don’t do prison tattoos here,” Connie explained. “Sweetie, this is Armin and his… boyfriend?”

I blushed and looked up at Jean who was already shaking her hand. “I mean, we’re not really–”

Jean wrapped his arm around me and hugged me closer. “We're together. And the name’s Jean, by the way.”

Sasha glanced at us with a look of disbelief. “Nice. Babe, come on! I have so much to talk to you about!”

She dragged Connie away and Reiner spoke up once they were out of earshot, “She's gonna do way more than talk to him.”

“I highly doubt there’s any good place in a prison to fuck somebody,” Bertolt stated.

I held back any incriminating words and followed everyone to the interior of the women’s prison. It was about the same except for the fancier equipment. The cafeteria was also a lot prettier than the one at Wall Maria. It was very telling of the budget they had at their disposal.

A man and a woman were standing with Levi near the front of the crowd having a seemingly friendly conversation. I had never seen Levi smile once since I showed up but not only was he smiling, he was also laughing. He had a heart after all, or at the very least could experience emotions related to happiness.

“Levi can smile?” I whispered to Jean.

“He only ever smiles around them,” He replied. “The man is Farlan Church and the woman is Isabel Magnolia. Farlan is the warden and she’s his second in command.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a female superintendent for a prison,” I commented.

“It would probably be more beneficial since she can actually make these women’s lives better while they’re here,” Jean explained. “The court system may often side with women, but when they get sent to a correctional facility they’re treated like garbage.”

Levi clapping his hands grabbed my attention as he started to speak up. “Let’s get this show on the road. For those who recently joined, every once in a while I bring everyone here to Sina as extra manpower to assist the girls here. On the agenda today, everyone here will actually be painting the cafeteria as well as organizing the new furniture for the library and helping to make their new wellness garden in the courtyard.”

I ended up being assigned to the gardening area while the others were sent to help the girls move the furniture. Given my less-than-masculine body, I figured that would happen, and I made my way back outside to the front doors and grabbed some gloves. I picked an unoccupied spot to work on so that I wasn’t bothering the girls. I didn’t want to be in their way and mess up their project.

As I spent the next few minutes planting pansies, I could feel someone’s eyes watching me. I tried to ignore the feeling as best as I could but, eventually, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. While still on my hands and knees, I looked over my shoulder and saw a tall figure looming over me.

“Can I help you?” I asked, not knowing who I was speaking to until I heard his voice.

“Keep going, I’m just supervising,” Eren replied, his arms crossed in front of his chest and I could see where his eyes were looking.

“Get down here and help me,” I groaned, my vision returning to the flowers.

I could hear the ruffling of his clothes, followed by a few whispers. Having created a few suspicions in my head, I waited to see if I was correct, and then I saw him in my peripherals. Eren had taken off his shirt.

Not wanting to give him the satisfaction, I kept my eyes on the soil and asked, “Won’t you get a sunburn doing that?”

“Only white people get sunburns,” Eren replied, reaching across my field of vision to grab my trowel.

“Well, everyone can get skin cancer so be careful,” I rolled my eyes and held my composure as he flashed his chiselled physique at me.

“Aw, you _do_ care about me,” Eren whispered, his hot breath sending shivers up and down my spine and forcing me to release a gasp.

I looked to my right and was caught in a trance as I stared into his emerald eyes. They had a certain quality about them that kept me from straying away. I felt him rest his hand on mine, holding it with a calloused grip and his lips on mine.

That was when I snapped back to reality and pulled back from him. “Go grab some gloves and your own trowel if you’re gonna work out here.”

Eren scanned me with his eyes and stood up, leaving me to grab the left behind trowel. I felt my heart pound in my chest as I desperately tried to ignore the growing heat on my face. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me as I packed dirt around the stems of the flowers, the whispers lingering in the background as my thoughts went a million miles a minute.

“What was that about?” One of the girls asked me.

“Yeah, is he your boyfriend or something?” Another girl asked.

I shook my head rapidly. “N-No! Why would I wanna be with someone like him?”

“The look on your face says otherwise,” the first girl replied.

Although many different types of thoughts were scattered across my mind, one thought, in particular, stood out to me as Eren returned with the proper gardening tools, _What the hell is he doing to me?_


	23. Oops I Did It Again, I Forgot What I Was Losing My Mind About

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this is a day late! I had to cancel an order for a Christmas tree because I sent it to the wrong store plus I've been dealing with resurfacing trauma and just the general stress of the holidays. I'll have the next chapter published on time!

I had managed to finish helping the girls with their garden without getting too distracted by Eren’s tactics to make me fall in love with him. I ended up planting a couple of the flower arrangements backwards, but that was all fixable and could be done at any time. It didn’t stop the girls from making fun of me for allegedly, according to them, having a crush on Eren.

_Aren’t I allowed to be flustered by a man who raped me? Apparently not!_

Jean and I became busy moving the furniture in the library with Sasha and her friends while Eren still worked outside with the other girls. Connie was with us as well, insisting that he never leave his wife’s side. I could understand that, and to an extent, I envied their relationship. I wanted a loving relationship with someone.

_Would I find that here in prison? I feel like I have that connection with somebody, but I don’t think it’s who I think it is. Especially since I feel depressed when he says that he loves me._

“Yo, Kevin Spacey, wake up,” I heard Connie snap his fingers in my direction.

I hadn’t realized I zoned out and looked over at him with a glare. “Really? Kevin Spacey?”

“What? You were spacing,” Connie replied. “You’ve been out of it today. What’s up?”

I shrugged. “It’s nothing. Just tired.”

“Yeah, I figured as much, but you really seem distracted today,” Connie set down the table and walked to grab one end of the couch. “Walk and talk with me.”

I nodded my head and lifted the couch with him and stepped carefully across the carpeted floor. “It’s Jean.”

“Trouble in paradise?” Connie smirked.

“You could say that, I guess,” I whispered.

“What’s eating at you?”

I looked at Connie as we placed the couch on the floor. “Jean said the L-word.”

Connie’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

“And I said it back,” I added.

“ _Oh_ ,” Connie pulled me aside and brought me to his wife. “You’re better at advice than I am, Sash.”

Sasha smiled down at me and sat me down at a table. “It’s only ever an emergency when Connie hands someone off to me for advice. What’s eating at you?”

“It’s Jean,” I explained. “He said that he loved me and it freaked me out.”

“Yikes,” Sasha leaned closer, grasping my hands with hers. “What did you say?”

“I said it back, but it’s not how I feel,” I continued. “We initially started because we wanted to get back at Eren but then we just became people who make out on the regular and now we’re dating.”

Sasha curled an eyebrow at me. “Eren?”

“He’s not important,” I insisted. “I’m just really frazzled by Jean and I’m too scared to say that I’m not ready for that stuff.”

“Do you even wanna be with him?” Sasha asked.

“Why do you ask?” I furrowed my eyebrows.

“You brought up some guy who seems more important than you’re letting on, plus you said you and Jean were only together because of this Eren guy who I’m gonna assume you used to have sex with–”

“Not so loud,” I whispered.

“Well, that was just a shot in the dark but thanks for actually confirming it for me,” she smirked. “Point is, you’re only _dating_ Jean because of some guy _you_ used to do it with. So, answer my question. Do you want to be with Jean or are you just denying the truth because you’re in love with Ere–”

“I’m not in love with Eren!” I yelled, pulling away from Sasha. “I’m not in love with anyone!”

There was a lingering silence as both Connie and Sasha looked at me. I felt my cheeks burn as I heard a set of footsteps coming toward our section of the library, leading me to take cover behind the newly-placed couch. After hearing the voice that belonged to the third person, I was relieved that I had made the right decision.

“Was that Armin?” Jean asked.

“Depends on why you’re asking,” Sasha replied, hostility in her voice. “I’m not very impressed with you.”

“Excuse me?” Jean’s words came out in a fiery tone. “What have I done to you exactly?”

“Nothing to me but a lot to Armin,” Sasha said as Connie tried to calm down the situation.

Jean huffed. “As if you know anything about him and me, bitch‒”

“Say anything like that to my wife again and you’ll be on the receiving end of a beating!” Connie yelled and I heard him shove Jean.

I jumped out from my hiding place so either one of them didn’t walk out of the library with black eyes or bruises. “You heard me earlier. I was just talking to Sasha about boys.”

Jean backed off of Connie and made his way over to me. “So, you don’t love Eren.”

I was left speechless once again. His words weren’t helping me to find a response and neither was his looming stare. He insisted over and over that he trusted me until I snapped when he said that he loved me.

“I’m scared to say it back because I don’t know if I love you back,” I replied softly. “I’m sorry for saying it all day to you but I didn’t exactly know how to tell you about how I felt.”

I looked up a Jean to find him smiling down at me as his hand ruffled my hair. “You’re really cute when you’re flustered, y’ know that?”

I let him pull me into an embrace and I loosely reciprocated. I noticed that Connie and Sasha had left, giving a little wave and a smirk as they exited through the library door. I thought about what she had said regarding Eren. It was like she had reached into my soul and picked out the exact thing that was bothering me, but I couldn’t stop bringing up this one thought that contradicted what she had done to me.

_Being with Eren is so confusing for me, and I can’t tell anyone about it. I tried and I wound up in a relationship with him against my will. That actually happened more than once with both Eren and Jean. The future for me is still so blind and I don’t know what I want._

“Whatcha thinking about?” Jean asked.

 _Is he what I want?_ I stood up onto the tips of my toes and kissed him deeply. _Only one way to find out._

“Let’s do it,” I blurted out.

Jean looked flabbergasted as he stared down at me with widened eyes that were the size of frisbees. “Right now?”

“No no, not right now,” I replied. “When we get back because I wanna pursue us as a couple. Like, a real couple.”

I didn’t believe anything that came out of my mouth but Jean did, which was good enough for me. “Well, now I’m excited to go back to prison!”

 _I’m glad you are, but I’m not,_ I smiled through the anguish as there was a female voice over the loudspeaker.

“Levi has just informed me that the renovations have been finalized, meaning our time together has drawn to a close,” Isabel spoke. “It won’t be the same faces next time but I’ll always welcome you with open arms and a hot lunch as a personal thank you for all your hard work. Until we meet again!”

“I guess that’s our cue!” Jean said excitedly and I allowed him to escort me back to the bus.

On the way, we grabbed some food from one of the tables stationed outside the correctional facility and found our seat on the bus. I leaned into his embrace as we rode home on the bus together. Because I was closer to the aisle this time around, I could feel a few pairs of eyes on me. I looked over my shoulder and around the back of the seat to find that Eren had chosen a spot next to the aisle with his eyes plastered to my body.

My eyes were connected with his until the bus stopped and we had to get off to go back into the cage. _You can’t look at him that way anymore._

I pulled Jean to the showers while everyone else made their way to the cafeteria to have supper. I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure no one was following us, stopping in my tracks any time I heard any noise that sounded close to a footstep. I was never this nervous the other times I had sex and didn’t know what was making me so jittery.

_What is the factor?_

I let Jean pull me into the shower.

_What is the factor?_

I let Jean undress and pleasure me.

_What is the factor?!_

I let Jean push himself into my body and thrust repeatedly, making me gasp from the feeling.

_Fuck, Eren!_

I suddenly realized the meaning of my emotions. _It’s Eren. Eren is the one that I want to be with. Not Jean!_

At a loss of self-control, I moaned loudly, “Eren!”


	24. Headspace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Late Christmas!

As soon as that name left my mouth, Jean stopped rocking his hips against mine. He pulled away from me, leaving me to have a hollow feeling and stared down at me with a shocked expression.

“What did you say?” He asked.

“N-Nothing?” I stammered. I don’t even know why I thought that work.

“No, you said Eren,” His shocked facial features morphed into ones that displayed despair. “You said his name. Why the hell would you say his name?! I thought you wanted me!”

“Calm down, it was an accident!” I replied, trying to de-escalate the situation I had put myself into.

His yelling only grew louder. “Yelling someone else’s name during sex isn’t an accident! Why did you say his name?!”

“Because I love him!” I shoved Jean away and crawled backwards and leaned against the wall. “I can’t lie anymore, Jean. I wanna be with Eren.”

Tears streamed down Jean’s face as he picked himself off the bathroom tile and carried himself out in an unaffected manner. He stopped just before rounding the corner and looked over his shoulder and down at me.

“I never thought that a lie could sound so sweet,” he cried salty tears as he stared at me with pink eyes. “Until you opened your mouth and said you loved me.”

And with that, I was left to sulk on the tile floor with strands of my blonde hair coated in sweat. I could hear other people walking into the showers and I was forced to pull myself together before anyone could see me on the floor. I’m sure the people I cared about would show concern, but I would still be made fun of for crying on the floor. Toxic masculinity is the best!

I ignored anyone who came up to me to use the showers in my corner of the room and found my way out once I was finished and fully dressed. I would look over my shoulder from time to time and saw that Jean was giving me a side glare as he cleaned himself off. He was probably talking shit about me to the guys which meant I lost my friends, but I wasn’t worried about them. I was more worried about Eren.

_ I need to tell him and now’s my only chance. _

I waited by the entrance and watched as everyone made their way out one by one. The people who didn’t matter to me blurred together, leaving the only face I wanted to see to stand out amongst the crowd of orange. He was outlined in gold, or at least he was to me.

_ He’s the love of my life. _

I caught up to him and lightly elbowed his side. “Hey.”

He looked down at me with his teal eyes catching the light in just the right way to make my heart flutter. “Hey, shorty.”

“You got any free time later tonight?” I asked. “I think we should talk.”

There was a smirk on his face and his reply was soft while the skin on his hand was opposite as his finger grazed my wrist. “I should be awake later since we share a cell.”

I watched him walk down the hallway with a swagger in his strut, leaving me to have to run to catch up.  _ Damn him and his long legs. _

The sun started to set and Levi had us all escorted back to our cells, closing the doors at seven-thirty. We had to wait out the others as they all fell asleep one by one until everyone was counting sheep. The guards had taken their leave for the night and I walked to Eren’s bed and sat with him to break the three-hour-long silence in our cell.

“Jean and I aren’t seeing each other anymore,” I whispered.

Eren curled his eyebrow upward and leaned closer. “Oh really. What broke you guys up?”

I rested my head on his shoulder, not trying to be remotely subtle about my feelings. “You.”

Eren didn’t hesitate to pull me closer and plant kisses along my neck. “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for you to come back to me.”

“I lied to myself for too long, Eren,” I guided his hand to my collar and let him unbutton my jumpsuit. “Oh God, I missed your touch.”

“Lay on the bed,” he growled, biting onto my thin flesh.

I let my head fall onto his pillow and shimmied out of my orange jumpsuit as Eren’s lips kissed their way down my neck. With an aggressive grip, Eren pulled my tank top off and grabbed my wrists. He tightened his grip on them and held me against his mattress as he stared into my eyes.

“I missed that look you always gave me when we did this,” he whispered.

My eyes widened with confusion shining through. “What look?”

“That look of fear,” Eren dipped his hand into my underwear and began stroking my member. “It turns me on so much.”

“Your words really know how to please a man,” I moaned as he sucked on my neck. “Are you gonna tease me forever?”

Eren kissed down my body as he pulled my underwear off of my hips and down my legs. “Don’t make any noise and we’ll see.”

As soon as I felt Eren’s tongue on my sensitive skin, I covered my mouth to mask any gasping as Eren’s tongue swirled around my cock. Every inch he covered in saliva only heightened my sexual desire further and further and it went through the roof. That is until Eren pulled away and let the cool breeze in our cell brush against my wet member.

“Eren–” I was cut off as his lips connected with mine.

“Not another word until I say so,” he growled into my lips before pulling away to complete his sentence. “Got it?”

I nodded vigorously. I would do anything to be pleasured by him, even sacrificing my way of showing my enjoyment.

Eren let me undress him and he pulled me closer, caging me in between his arms as we laid back onto the bed. His hands grazed my pale skin before finding their place on my hips as he dug his nails into my thighs. He sat up and leaned to his right to grab the bottle of lube he kept attached to the underside of his mattress.

“You ready?” He asked as he slathered the lube onto his hardened rod.

Remembering my promise, I only nodded my head and pulled him closer. I bit my lip to hold in my cries of pleasure as Eren pushed into my backside, only able to express myself through my actions, and I wrapped my legs around his waist and dug my nails into his back. I was certain I would leave scratches that were bound to stir up questions for Eren tomorrow but I didn’t care.

_ I just want you! _

Eren pulled back and looked into my eyes, not ceasing his hip motions once. “Your eyes look glossy in this lighting.”

In the faintest whisper, I replied, “I’m just enjoying myself.”

“So you  _ can _ speak,” Eren chuckled, pulling back and flipping me onto my stomach. “Make all the noise you want into my pillow.”

I propped my hips up and rested on my elbows and knees as Eren, without warning, filled the emptiness with a hardy grasp of my hips and slammed into me repeatedly. One thing was certain; I made good use of that pillow.

“God, you’re such a slut,” he groaned quietly. “Ready for it and everything.”

I expelled all internal emotions through my voice as it reverberated against the cotton fabric of his pillow. With my fingers clawing into his thin blanket, I muffled my orgasmic screaming as the knots in my stomach tightened more and more until I couldn’t bear to keep my cool. As I let out a final gasp, my breath hitched as I released onto Eren’s blanket.

“Don’t tell me you’re finished,” Eren teased.

He pulled out of me and flipped me onto my back so that I was looking up at him. “I’m just getting started.”

Once he pushed back in, the rest of the night went by with bittersweet bliss as he bit my skin and thrust harder and harder into me until eventually slowing to a stop just as I felt my second sexual high plummet to a calm and loving nature. We were both sticky, we were both splattered with liquidus patches of white, and we were both really fucking tired.

Eren pulled away and laid beside me, his right arm looped around my torso. “So, you regret shutting me out for so long?”

“Holy fuck,” I breathed out, looking to my right to meet his eyes. “As soon as it’s sundown tomorrow, we’re going at it again.”

“Calm down, Jessica Rabbit,” he chuckled softly. “I’m just happy to have you back in my life.”

We laid in silence with our eyes locked. I would feel his fingertips graze my side from time to time, and I would need to fight the urge to laugh from how ticklish it was. I had never felt any happier than I did in that bed next to him. I found my true love, even if it took months to realize it.

Eren broke the silence with a hum and whispered, “I remember you were trying to figure out why I was put in here.”

I fidgeted a little to lay on my back and stare up at the ceiling. “Yeah, but I gave up. I can’t force people to disclose personal information to me that they aren’t comfortable giving out, and it must be really serious if you don’t wanna tell me.”

“I wanted to make sure I could trust you, now lean in so I can say it.” He pulled me closer and whispered something that sent shivers down my spine.

“Murder, soliciting street whores, and necrophilia.”


	25. Dead Girls Tell No Tales, But Fingerprints Do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI ITS MY BIRTHDAY SO IM POSTING THIS AND A CRANKGAMEPLAYS SMUT ON HERE AND WATTPAD

When I was little, surprises really affected me. I hated being left out of the loop, so much so that I would beg and cry if no one told me what was going on. When someone did manage to get the better of my detective tactics and surprise me with whatever they had planned, I would start to bawl. I did the same thing when I caught wind of Eren being so secretive; I hunted for the information until I couldn’t anymore, and I nearly cried when he fulfilled my intense desires to be all-knowing of his past.

Eren wiped the single tear from my face and growled, “Stop crying.”

I patch-worked my leaky eyes and nodded and replied, “I’m sorry. I’m just surprised, is all.”

Eren rolled his eyes. “You’re so emotional.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I’ll only cry when you say it’s allowed,” I offered, something I shouldn’t have done in hindsight.

“That doesn’t matter. I just don’t know if I can trust you now,” He spoke, running his hand through his bangs.

“Trust me?” I repeated. “You can trust me with anything.”

“You won’t cry, will you?” He groaned.

I traced a cross over my heart. “I promise, love.”

“Okay, but if you start crying, I’m dipping out,” Eren sighed, wrapping his arm around me. “It’s the story of how I landed in prison.”

The details were so grizzly that I never wanted to repeat them to anyone. Alas, they were forever ingrained in my mind. Because listening to the man you love explain how he contorted women’s bodies and used them as toys could never be erased from anyone’s mind. Not even K or J could wipe this from my memory.

“I guess I should start from my early childhood, when everything was just gearing up to implode,” Eren heaved a sigh once again. “When I was three, my mom passed away. Yeah, I think that’s where the intense emotion started. She was a safety blanket for me and then God had ripped her away. I felt betrayed, in a way.”

He continued his story and I nodded like a doting puppy, attentively listening and watching his every move. “When I say my father was a massive douche, he was a  _ massive douche _ . He never hit me, he was just really mean. He would blame me for a lot of things, yell and scream, and when I would call him out he would melt into this puddle of sadness and beg for my forgiveness. I gave it to him, but really I should have packed my bags and ran away when Mikasa was born. I couldn’t leave a baby alone with that psycho though, so I stayed and pretended that everything was okay.”

“So, your dad remarried?” I asked.

“No, he adopted Mikasa. Her mom didn’t even get to hold her…” Eren smiled up at me. “I had a weird upbringing if you couldn’t tell.”

“You had quite the childhood alright,” I spoke up.

“What was yours like?” Eren asked.

I shrugged. “It was fairly average. Not a lot of excitement really. Played a lot of Zelda. I wanna hear more about you though.”

Eren smiled but it soon faded as grim phrases left his mouth. “It only got worse for me. I picked up a nasty cocaine habit to cope with my dad but stayed sober enough to make sure Mikasa was safe and sound. Got into some really shady businesses and found myself needing an outlet that wasn’t booze or drugs. So, I found a couple of corner girls. It became a weekly thing with these girls.”

“What were their names?” I interjected. “If you remember, that is.”

“They went by Annie and Hitch, but those were just street names they used to protect their identities. I grew to like them a lot,” Eren explained. “Doesn’t matter now though since they’re dead.”

“Did you…?” My voice was quiet to show how nervous I was for his story to end.

“I did,” he replied, nonchalant. “As I said, I liked them both. But they wanted to stop being hookers. When I asked to keep seeing them, even if we didn’t have sex, they rejected me. Said they only wanted money from me. I snapped and so did their necks. Once I realized they couldn’t resist me anymore, I had my way with them.”

I kept myself from vomiting and replied, “Really.”

“Yeah, really. I’d never felt more powerful than I did at that moment,” Eren’s eyes lit up with excitement as he concluded his backstory. “I ended up keeping Annie and fucking her whenever I felt like it. But soon, the hot fuzz found Hitch and that led them to me. Was hauled off the next week and I’ve been here ever since. You know the rest of that story though.”

I smiled down at my hands and linked them with Eren’s. “That was a lot to have gone through.”

“I mean, I’ve done a lot worse than that,” Eren pulled me closer to him, holding my face in his right hand and turning my head so he could look at the right side. “I noticed the teardrop tattoo. Don’t try to tell me what it means. I know what you did.”

I braced myself for his fists, but I felt his lips on my cheek. “You were a misguided soul searching for your place of belonging,” he said. “You belong with me, so you no longer need to search for somewhere.”

“We belong to each other,” I whispered. “I belong to you.”

He lightly smacked the cheek he previously kissed. “I don’t belong to anyone.”

“Got it.” I stood up and stretched to the sky, feeling the chilly air along the curves of my body. “We should probably get dressed and head to sleep.”

“I guess we should,” Eren replied as he spanked me.

I grabbed my scattered clothing and reclothed myself, taking refuge from the cold air underneath my thin blanket. I was about to close my eyes and head to sleep but felt something tugging at the blanket.

Eren wrapped his arms around my body and pressed her body against mine. “We’re gonna need a bigger bed once we get out of here.”

“That’s if we’ll get out at the same time,” I yawned. “Now have a good sleep.”

Just as I was checking out for the night, Eren whispered something that chilled me to the bone, enough to perk me up from my slumber, “I have a few ideas. Don’t you worry your pretty little ass about it.”

I was able to get to sleep that night, but I was up before everyone else so that I could move to Eren’s bed. Although everyone was able to guess that something was going on between us, we didn’t want anyone to be able to confirm our relationship. It could be used as ammunition if anyone decided to harm either Eren or me indirectly. It was something Eren decided for us and I was given no choice but to follow his orders.

_ Anything to be with Eren was worth it. _

We sat isolated from my old friends in the cafeteria. Eren had chosen the table that was perfectly in the centre of the room so a certain set of amber eyes could be on us. Jean would shoot glares my way from time to time, but that didn’t matter. I was too busy entranced by the brunette sitting across from me.

“So, I have an idea and I wanna run it by you before I get you involved in it,” Eren spoke up through bites of his bland breakfast.

“Go on,” I leaned forward, eagerly awaiting his response.

“We should break out of here,” He whispered, linking his hand with mine. “We deserve better than this place, than these people trying to desperately keep us apart.”

I could only sit and ponder about his statement as he rambled on about his plan. This went against everything I had worked for but saying no would have gone against everything I worked for to get back into Eren’s life. I wanted to pursue a future with him as he was the love of my life, but sacrificing my only chance at redemption was risky, possibly too risky.

I heard fingers snapping and focused on a tan hand in front of me. “Yes, Eren?”

“You’re gonna say no, aren’t you?” He bellowed. “You’re gonna puss out and take the long way.”

“I never said that–” I was cut off by the fire in his eyes.

“Silence is the same thing as saying no to me, and don’t you forget that,” he growled. “Come find me when you have an answer.”

“But I do,” I grabbed his arm to keep him in place. “I’m going with you. You’re not worth losing again, especially over some stupid argument.”

“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear,” Eren smirked.

As the buzzer rang throughout the room, signalling that our time was up in the cafeteria, I followed Eren out and to the cells as he insisted we skipped our other duties to have sex, and I agreed.  _ Let’s kick this into gear, I guess. _


	26. E-GIRLS ARE RUINING MY LIFE!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just popping in to give a quick warning that this chapter features sexual assault, rape, and overall just a lot of abuse towards Armin!

I heard the snapping of fingers, commanding me to look at the hand before me. “I’m sorry, I just spaced out.”

“No worries,” the therapist leaned back in her chair as she connected her pencil with her college ruled paper once again. “You started crying when you got into your latest development with Eren.”

“I didn’t even notice,” I replied as I wiped my cheeks to fix my appearance. “Do I look better?”

“I guess so,” she shrugged her shoulders. “Would you like to keep going or did you wanna stop for the day?”

“No, I can keep going. I just need a minute.”

I stood from my spot and did a lap around the room to cool my body down. Of course, this didn’t work at first as I was on the verge of having a panic attack but eventually, things calmed down and returned to my spot by the window. “I learned that trick when I was with Eren,” I said as I leaned against the window.

“Why don’t you sit closer?” She asked.

“They put me in isolation last time I did,” I reminded her.

“That was because you tried to stab me with my pen,” she chuckled. “Even then, I pushed you and you reacted like anyone with severe trauma would. So come here and have a closer seat to me.”

I took her word for it and sat in the center of my bed. “I’m only comfortable getting this close.”

“I understand,” she replied, tapping her pen against her paper. “Shall we continue?”

I nodded my head. “Let’s try this again.”

**. . .**

Eren would drag me to different corners of the prison to discuss plans for how we would be escaping, all while I was feeding him any information I was being told about my case to see if I could find a way to get him out early. That was my idea, actually. His idea was breaking out of prison guns blazing.

“I have a guy on the outside who can send us everything over the next few months or so,” Eren whispered as we laid in his bed together.

“What about the illegal stuff that takes more effort to find?” I asked, “Y’ know since you wanna go out by blowing shit up?”

“Doesn’t your little sex toy have a boy on the outside that would do anything for him?” Eren replied in between neck kisses.

“Marco is a child, Eren. And Jean hates my guts for using him,” I explained once again. “I’m not gonna ask him that.”

“That kid might be the only chance of us escaping this cruel place,” Eren insisted. “We’re, quite literally, prisoners here, and I wanna use every advantage we could have to get the hell out of here. Besides, Jean could be useful in our escape plan too.”

I smirked at him, “You’re so devious.”

“And you’re quite the angel yourself.” He pulled me in for a kiss and fiddled with the buttons on my jumpsuit. “Fuck, you always put me in the mood.”

“So it would seem,” I pulled him closer for a kiss.

I let his hands wander my body and pulled at his clothes to try and disrobe him. We quickly fell into our usual routine of him forcing my head down to his exposed groin and shoving his cock into my mouth. I tried not to gag too much since I knew it was one of his turn-offs and I didn’t need to make Eren upset again. Lord knows I did that too much.

My hands were empty so I thought I would occupy them by snaking my hands upwards and pinching his nipples in between my fingers. When I actually tried, Eren pushed me off of him and forced me onto my knees as he stood up with his left foot on the floor and his right foot planted onto the mattress. Out of instinct, I leaned in closer to his erection with my mouth open and ready to keep going.

Eren clutched my head in both of his hands and began thrusting into my mouth, the tip of his dick touching my uvula and nearly sliding into my throat. In reflex, I pulled away but the grip Eren had on me was too strong and I was forced back to his crotch as he continued to thrust into my mouth.

With no way of voicing my discomfort, I dug my nails into his thighs and pushed against him with all my strength. I upgraded from fingernails to fists as I punched at his thighs to get his attention. Nothing I did made him stop and I was forced to take the pain until he was either satisfied or until he got bored.

With a sudden pull of my hair, Eren sent me from his crotch to the bed and tackled me and pinned my wrists to the mattress. “What’s with the fists?”

I nearly screamed but I kept my voice low as I lied, “I just wanted you to move on and fuck me already.”

“That’s more like it,” Eren huffed as he gripped my waist tightly and positioned himself to enter my body, doing so with a slam.

I shrieked into my hand and bit on his shoulder as he thrust into me harder and harder. I could feel how rough he was going and predicted that I would be bleeding if he wasn’t careful. He would just complain about there being evidence that something happened between us and it would be a nightmare to deal with.

What I couldn’t predict was that Eren would sit up and put his hand on my neck and closed my airways, leaving me without any way to breathe.

_ What the actual fuck is he doing?!  _ Panic set in immediately.

“There’s that panic I love so fucking much,” He groaned with a devilish smile. “Fuck, I’m–”

As I could feel my life slipping away, Eren let go and slowed his pounding to a stop. I sucked in as much air as my lungs could hold as the stars in my vision left my eyes and I looked up at Eren. That devilish smile lingered as he wiped his forehead of sweat. When he leaned down for a kiss, I pushed him away.

“Why did you choke me?!” I screamed.

“Calm down, I wanted to try something with you,” Eren replied, reaching for my pelvic region.

I backed away as far as I could until he had me cornered up against the wall. “Eren, you could have killed me!” I spoke frantically.

“I wouldn’t have. I know when to let go,” Eren insisted. “I’m definitely doing that again though. That look on your face was so fucking  _ hot. _ ”

“Great, I’m gonna die,” I mumbled before kissing his cheek.

We cleaned up as best as we could before making our way out and back to where we were before: the basketball court. Technically, we were just outside, but Eren wanted me to try to win Jean over so we could put our escape plan into action. I had no say in the matter as Eren had shoved me onto the court as people lined up to start playing a tournament.

“Alright, is everyone here that wants to be here?” Reiner asked, pacing back and forth while dribbling a basketball. “And I see the current basketball king has returned!”

“No need to make a big deal out of it, Reiner!” I chuckled. “I’m glad to be here.”

“You won’t be when I kick your ass,” Jean retorted.

“What? Still mad that I dumped your ass?” I hadn’t planned on pulling out any trash talk but I couldn’t escape it after saying that.

“And here I thought Eren didn’t let you speak for yourself!” Jean yelled, approaching me from the other side of the line.

“Got somethin’ you wanna say?” I looked up at him with the best glare I could muster. “Or are you gonna pretend you don’t still like me?”

“Settle it on the court, lads,” Reiner said, separating us with a forceful grip.

We all took our seats as the first two players in the brackets started the game off. Jean and I would give each other side glares from time to time, waiting as one by one the pairs were called out. I ended up being paired off against other people before him, making the wait that much more unbearable.

“And why am I fighting Jean on the basketball court?” I asked Eren, exasperated.

The brunette winked at me and ruffled my hair. “Because he owes you a favour.”

Not long after that, both mine and Jean’s names were called out and I was forced to confront the amber-eyed male on the basketball court. “Okay, no rough-housing and no crotch shots. We square?” Reiner asked.

“Square,” I replied for the both of us. I had waited for Reiner to walk away to grab the basketball before I spoke to Jean. “Final round. If I win, you have to help Eren and I escape, and you get to go with us.”

“And if I win?” Jean sneered down at me.

I sighed, embarrassed at how I had phrased the statement. “I’ll do whatever you want until the other person leaves prison. You can do what you want to me as revenge for what I did to you.”

I could see his face growing into a shade of peach as he pursed his lips and widened his eyes. “We’ll see how it all turns out then.”

Reiner returned and had us stand on either side of him. “Ready?”

I nodded and so did Jean.

Reiner counted down, “three, two, one!” and Jean and I lunged upward for the ball, the outcome being foreshadowed by the direction of where the ball went.


	27. Hit Me Baby, One More Time

Reiner returned and had us stand on either side of him. “Ready?”

I nodded and so did Jean.

Reiner counted down, “three, two, one!” and Jean and I lunged upward for the ball.

I managed to sneak my hand closer and stole the ball from Jean, leading the crowd to watch closely as he and I danced around the court. There wasn’t much to see but Reiner dramatized the situation to make me out as this undefeated champion at the second dumbest sport ever. It worked though because everyone was at the edge of their seats for the duration of the first round.

“And Jean goes for a shot and misses!” Reiner called out. “Armin’s got the ball and is making a break for the other side of the court!”

_Reiner, you’re literally so distracting. Shut the fuck up!_

I jumped from the 3-point, landing a basket and claiming the first round as my own. “At this rate, you’re gonna be my bitch,” I smirked, tossing the ball back to Reiner.

He sneered in return. “Don’t get too big for your britches there, fuckass.”

I rolled my eyes. “Real fucking mature of you.”

Reiner brought us back to the center of the court and repeated the same phrases from earlier. “Three, two, one!”

I lunged again, missing by a small margin. Jean had actually shoved me a bit, which is against the rules, but I didn’t have the time to tattle on him and kept playing the game to the best of my abilities. I managed to come up behind him and steal the ball, dribbling it back to his side of the court. I jumped and took a shot, seeing the ball bounce off the backboard and into Jean’s hands.

He made a run for it and chucked the ball and scored himself a point. “Woohoo! Take that, king!”

“Yeah, yeah! I let you win that one! It’s the only way you’ll get one point against, as you said it yourself, the king!” I laughed.

“Not even your backstabbing ways can bring me down!” Jean smirked, staring down at me with his intense amber eyes. “What, you scared?”

“I’m not scared of a Lil bitch like you,” I smirked back up at him and pulled him down close enough to whisper in his ear, “Especially a Lil bitch that can’t fuck.”

He gave me a hard shove, sending me backwards. “Don’t you fucking dare bring that up!”

“The trash talk is real today. Did you two break up?” Reiner asked.

“Isn’t it obvious? _He_ cheated on me with _Eren!_ ” Jean yelled.

My mouth dropped open as I felt my face heat up with a crimson warmth. “Shit…”

“Wait, wait! You and Eren?!” Connie yelled. “What the fuck?”

“That’s nothing but a baseless accusation!” I yelled back. “Jean and I are still trying to work everything out and he’s just mad I didn’t want to be with him anymore.”

“Eren’s not saying anything! That’s gotta be some sort of proof to you guys!” Jean yelled. “You gotta believe me!”

“Translation! Source, just trust me,” I chuckled. “Don’t try to make this personal, Kirstein.”

Jean huffed, realizing that he had been defeated. “Fine. Next point wins!”

I nodded and we went back to the center of the court. “This one’s for the money,” I mumbled.

“May the best man win,” Jean said as he stood across from me.

“Okay. One for the money, two for the show, are you ready you motherfuckers? Alrighty, let’s go!” Reiner stated, throwing the ball into the air and ducking out of the way before he could get hit.

With one last jump, I managed to intercept the ball and run to his side of the court and take a shot. Jean was on my tail though and stole the ball in midair before I could score the point. I chased after him as he rushed to the other side, making my final lunge to save the game.

Everything suddenly moved in slow motion as I lunged upward and missed by a small margin, allowing Jean to sink the final basket and win the tournament.

“Woohoo!” Jean yelled, doing a lap around the court and rejoicing in his victory.

I rolled my eyes as everyone made jabs at me for having lost after bragging about keeping the crown on my head. I made my way over to Jean as he had finally calmed down, and Eren joined us in the middle of the basketball court.

“So, you won. What do you want from me?” I asked.

“Well at least you’re holding up one of our deals,” he smirked.

“Unless you have your proposition ready, I’m taking Armin away from you,” Eren intervened, pulling me into his embrace. “I know where you sleep, bitch.”

“And I know where you both fuck each other,” Jean retorted. “You and your bitch here can do this for me.”

“Lay it on me like you did that day in the shower,” I replied, agitated.

Jean rolled his eyes. “I need you to spy on the warden for me and grab some info.”

“Jean, that’s suicide,” I replied. “I’d soon rather serve a life sentence.”

“Which you’re currently doing so you might as well do this for me. Besides,” Jean leaned closer to whisper, “You lost, so you owe me for a _long_ while.”

I rolled my eyes and shoved him to his half of the court. “I’ll get on that, _boss._ ”

Jean smirked and walked off to Connie and the other guys and Eren turned me so that I was facing him, gripping my arms in his hands. “This is perfect,” Eren said ecstatically.

“How? I lost and now I’m his bitch for who knows how long,” I reminded him.

“Because we need to get into the warden’s office as well,” he explained.

“Wait, you were banking on my loss?” I asked.

“No, but we can use this to our advantage,” he smirked.

I sighed. “So you’re not mad at me?”

Eren kissed my forehead. “I could never be mad at you, angel.”

I giggled as he pulled me into a hug. “So, are we officially out now?”

“Yep. Fuck what everyone else says!”

Eren pulled me over to the bleachers and let me rest my head on his shoulder as we talked about escaping prison. The more time I spent with Eren, the more the possibility of escaping seemed realistic to me. I hadn’t seen those cops in months either and the hope of getting out on good behaviour was dwindling into nothing as each day passed. I wanted to get out, but not without the love of my life, Eren Jäger.

The bell interrupted our time on the bleachers, calling us to the cafeteria for supper. I wasn’t feeling up to anything they would be serving and asked Eren if he wasn’t up for anything different than the garbage they made in the kitchen. I winked at him as well, explaining everything I wanted in one swift movement.

“Usually you wait until after dinner for dessert, but I think I can make an exception this time,” Eren bit his lip as he wrapped an arm around me.

We snuck off to our cell for the next thirty minutes and did whatever he wanted. With no one around, I could be as loud as I wanted, say whatever I wanted to, and be whoever Eren wanted me to be. And this time, he wanted me to be something different as he pulled out an outfit from under his mattress.

“Put this on,” he insisted, throwing me an outfit that belonged to a Japanese female student.

I shrugged and told him to turn around. If he wanted to see, he would have to be surprised. The entire outfit came with thigh-high socks, a long-sleeved sailor shirt and a matching mini skirt, and a red bow to rest under the flap of my shirt. Since I didn’t have access to any hairstyling tools, my blonde hair reached my shoulders, adding to how feminine the outfit made me look.

Once everything was adjusted, I told Eren to turn around. “I’m ready.”

Eren’s eyes lit up as he spun around and looked my body up and down. “Fucking hell.”

I didn’t get to answer before Eren scooped me into his arms and laid me down onto his bed. His lips connected with me as he grabbed my underwear and pulled it out from under my skirt and stole the air from my lungs with his kisses.

“Christ almighty, y’all fuck like rabbits!” I heard Jean yell out of nowhere.

Eren pulled away and covered me with the blanket. “Do you mind?”

“Whatever, pedophile. I just need to talk to Armin,” Jean responded, walking into the cell. “You can be here for it too, I guess.”

Jean crouched at the edge of the bed and leaned closer to me. “I have something else I need from you.”

I looked at Eren who nodded in approval. “What else do you want?”

Jean heaved a sigh as he grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers. “I still love you. I shouldn’t, but I still do, a lot. And I wanna have sex one last time, and then I never wanna speak to you again.”

My eyes widened to frisbees and Eren defensively got between us. “The fuck kind of a request is that? You won the basketball game just so you could have sex with him?!”

“It’s better than the abuse he puts up with from you,” Jean snapped, turning back to me and grabbing my hand once again. “I only asked. You don’t even have to say yes.”

Tears flooded my eyes as I looked up into Jean’s amber orbs. “I–”

“Leave so that way we can talk about this,” Eren interrupted me.

I didn’t say anything as Jean let my hand go and walked out of my eyesight. I stood up with the blanket wrapped around my body and walked up to Eren. “If you’re worried I’m gonna go running back to him, I won’t. I’d never leave you.”

“No, you should do it,” Eren replied.


	28. Playing With Fire Never Ends Well For Anyone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day guys! I thought I would give y'all a spicy update for all the singles out there! My V day has been derailed but that doesn't mean I can't give back to my readers! I hope you guys are having a great day!

A few days had passed since Jean’s proposition. It was also the day Eren and I would be breaking into the warden’s office to locate information. Not much really happened, other than paying Eld’s friend a visit for an overdue body modification. Needless to say, it didn’t end well. Nothing did that day.

_My eyes widened as I dove further under the blanket. “I’m not having sex with Jean!”_

_“C’mon, Armin. It won’t be so bad,” Eren insisted. “It won’t be the first time you guys have had sex.”_

_“Considering that I said your name and made him feel disgusted, it was,” I reminded him. “Why do you want me to have sex with him so badly?”_

_“Because we can use it against him later,” Eren replied. “Especially if both of us are involved.”_

_My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean by that?”_

_Hesitant, Eren whispered, “I’m not letting him have you all to himself.”_

I cringed as I thought about that. Eren wanted to force me into a threesome with himself and Jean and thought I would go along with him on the outrageous idea. I did go along with him on the idea but that doesn’t mean I would enjoy it.

“Ready for the day to start?” Eren whispered, shooting me a sly grin.

I smiled in return, excited for what we would do to fill the time. “Totally.”

“We’ll do it when it’s our jobs. We have the most time then since we’ll have to pick a couple of locks and hack a password,” Eren held my hand in his. “We’ll just need to clock in, sneak away, and then go back to clock out. Don’t worry about that though. We’ll get everything we need for Gunther and call it even with him.”

Gunther was the man who did piercings in prison and was Eld’s friend. He was also the guy who requested information about shipping items and quotas because he also happened to be one of the many dealers in the prison and needed to know how he could smuggle in contraband without getting caught, and tasked us to do it with free piercings in exchange for our service.

_“So, I need these by the end of the week or you can kiss your piercings goodbye,” Gunther explained, handing us a handwritten note. “Are we clear?”_

_“Crystal,” Eren responded, leaving Gunther’s cell and taking me with him._

_“Are you sure we should do this? It’s not like Gunther will mean anything later on,” I whispered._

_“We can use this to say that Jean owes us,” Eren replied. “I have it all planned out. He’ll be working for us in no time.”_

_“Do we need him?” I asked._

_“No, but he’s a liability so we have no other choice,” Eren explained further. “Armin, it’s either we do this and accomplish what we need as well, or we kill Jean.”_

_Eren backed me against the wall and leaned in towards my neck. “And I know you don’t wanna do that since it means you will have actually killed someone. That’s the reason you were fighting to get out of here, right? Because you never actually murdered your friend?”_

_I sighed and looked down, guilt coursing through my veins. “You’re right.”_

_“I always am, sweetheart,” he growled before pulling away. “Let’s get to work on our plan.”_

“What are you guys whispering about?” Jean asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

“The many ways he’s gonna get fucked tonight,” Eren replied, conveying no sarcasm in his response.

“Gross,” Jean replied. “Why are you even okay with being near him?”

“I could say the same thing about you since you’re sitting right across from him,” I replied to Jean. “And we were just talking about our jobs. That’s it.”

“They don’t actually fuck each other, Jean. Stop exaggerating,” Bertoldt spoke up.

Jean had essentially been deemed the jealous ex-boyfriend by the entire prison and was now being constantly harassed by other inmates for sex. I wanted to feel sorry for him, and I did to a certain extent, but in the end, only Eren’s view mattered and Eren was completely fine with it (he was starting some of the harassment as well.)

Breakfast was over soon and everyone went about their days according to the shared schedule. Passing the time was easier than I thought it would be, and eventually, it was time for me to go to the library for most of the day to sign in. This was the moment I could choose to derail the plan or go through with it.

 _I’ll get an ass-whooping if I don’t so I might as well,_ I signed in and escaped the library to see Eren waiting outside for me.

“Ready to go?” Eren asked.

I gulped quietly. “Yeah. Let's get out of here.”

Eren wrapped his arm around my waist, his hand firmly attached to my side as he stared straight ahead and escorted me through the hallways. We had to dodge guards now and then, keeping us on course to our destination. He must have been planning this escape long before I came to prison because he knew exactly where to go. Either that or he’s gone to see the warden a couple of times for bad behaviour.

Eren kept me behind the corner as a guard was patrolling the area. “Okay, we gotta get past that guy,” Eren whispered.

“How?” I whispered back.

Eren winked at me. “Stay here, and don’t get caught.”

 _Easier said than done,_ I sighed to myself and let him walk around the corner.

It didn’t take too long and soon I saw someone peer around the corner and walk past me, and it wasn’t Eren. The brunette appeared shortly after, putting something back into his pocket. It was white and in a sandwich bag, and I could assume it wasn’t candy.

“I’ll let you have some later,” Eren smirked, grabbing my hand. “We only have an hour, so let’s hurry.”

Eren pulled me to the office and opened the door to shove me inside the room. The door slowly shut behind us, and thus the imaginary counter in our heads started counting down.

“Let’s get to work,” Eren spoke up, walking toward the desk.

I went to one of the filing cabinets and pulled only to be met with a locked door. “No wonder the guard is giving us an hour.”

“Yeah, and the computer here has a password lock on it,” Eren sighed. “I can use brute strength to open the filing cabinet–”

“Don’t do that,” I interrupted him.

“Why not? We need to get any info we can,” Eren insisted.

“The warden would know that someone was in here if you did that,” I explained. “And then it would get traced back to us since we aren’t at work right now.”

“Okay, smartypants,” Eren groaned. “I’ll pick some locks.”

“You know how to do that?” I asked, sitting in front of the computer.

“It’s something I picked up from gangs in my old city. You’ll learn that and more the longer you’re my boyfriend,” Eren replied. “I need to concentrate. You work on that computer.”

“Will do.”

I leaned forward and looked at the blinking bar in the password section. Computers weren’t my strong suit but it was a better alternative than attempting to pick a lock. I pushed all of my worries aside and got to work on cracking the password.

Unfortunately, enough time had passed for Eren to open both the cabinets and I still wasn’t even past the first screen on the desktop.

“Fuck,” I groaned in frustration. “Can’t get into it.”

“Here, let me try,” ren suggested, switching places with me. “Have a look in the filing cabinets and see if you find anything of interest.”

I scanned the different labels as I sorted through the filing cabinet’s contents, the typing of the keyboard soothing my anger a bit. I heard Eren sigh in relief but I was too busy looking for anything related to shipping requests, which I couldn’t find in either of the cabinets.

“I think the shipping requests are on the computer,” I spoke up, finally turning my vision to Eren.

As soon as I saw the screen, my heart dropped into my chest.

“Armin?” Eren spoke up. “Earth to Armin! We need to find the shipping stuff–”

“Stop talking,” I snapped, leaning towards the screen to get a better look.

“What?” Eren asked.

I stared at the family photo on the screen. “I know who she is.”


	29. Five More Minutes With My Beloved. That's All I Want

_ “Armin?” Krista asked after our sermon had finished for the day. _

_ “Yeah?” I replied. “If you need a ride, I can drive you home.” _

_ “No, it isn’t that, but thank you,” She smiled, sitting on the steps of our university's church. “I told my uncle that I’m gay.” _

_ “You did? How did it go?” I asked, taking a seat beside her. “Did you tell him about–” _

_ “One question at a time,” She giggled, her Canadian accent peaking through subtly. “It went really well. He’s a religious guy, and even leads sermons from time to time. I didn’t think he would be so accepting.” _

_ “That’s awesome! I’m so happy for you!” I said, giving her a side hug. _

_ She rested her head on my shoulder. “I haven’t told him about Ymir yet. Like, he’s accepting of my sexuality but he might not like Ymir, considering he wants me to marry someone who’s the same religion as us.” _

_ “And she’s an Atheist, right?” I questioned. _

_ “She’s Agnostic,” Krista explained. “She said she would convert for me but I don’t want her to do that. She shouldn’t have to change what she believes just to be with me. I get that it’s our mission to recruit people, but it makes me feel gross doing that.” _

_ “I understand,” I agreed. “Definitely wait before you bring up Ymir to your father, but who knows? He may be okay with it.” _

_ “He’s a stickler for the old ways when it comes to marriage. He’s changed a lot since his sermon days from when I was a baby but that’s the one thing he won’t change his mind about,” She insisted. _

_ “I think if he can become an ally to the queer community, he can support your relationship with Ymir,” I told her. _

_ Krista stood up and stretched to the sky. “Can we get takeout tonight?” _

_ I smiled and stood up to stand beside her. “Sure. McDonald’s?” _

_ “Sure!” _

“Armin, we don’t have time to reminisce! We need the shipping documents,” Eren snapped.

“That’s Krista,” I couldn’t hold back my emotions anymore and stepped away from the computer to let out my sorrow. “That’s my best friend.”

“And? She’s dead now, and you didn’t do it. No need to whine about it anymore,” Eren groaned. “Now, help me find the shipping documents.”

“Can I have a hug?” I pleaded. “Just one?”

I heard Eren sigh and his footsteps coming towards me, wrapping his arms around me as I sobbed into his chest. “She meant so much to me, and then I found her in her home. I found her covered in wounds and blood.”

Eren didn’t say a word as I cried and carried on. I wasn’t able to bring up Krista because I didn’t want to burden anyone with my ongoing struggles, and then I saw a picture of her and couldn’t keep pretending that she didn’t exist anymore. She was gone, and that wall I had built from my time in Wall Maria Prison for Men was torn down in one single glance at the happiness in her blue eyes.

“Come on, we need to keep looking,” Eren spoke up.

I pulled away to wipe the tears from my eyes. “Yeah. We don’t have much time.”

I sat at the computer and scanned through the files on the computer, looking for anything related to shipments. My brain was so clouded I could barely concentrate on everything in front of me, but I knew I had to keep pushing. We needed those notes and anything else we could get our hands on to help us make our great escape.

And soon, I stumbled upon exactly what we needed.

“Found them!” I spoke, my mood shifting into something more relaxed. “We just need to write this down and give it to Gunther.”

“Nice! I’m gonna see if I can find anything that we’ll need to know for the future.”

Eren and I traded places and I stood back, looming over his shoulder. My attention diverted from the screen to a picture frame on the desk. Krista and a man with blonde hair and blue eyes were underneath a willow tree, her wearing a formal floor-length dress and him wearing a tuxedo with a boutonniere of lilies on his suit jacket and the man looked down at her with love in his eyes.

Then, I got hit with another wave of realization.

_ “Armin! Armin!” Krista called to me as I was getting ready for church. _

_ “Hey–” I responded only to be cut off by her pouncing onto me for a hug. _

_ “My uncle loves Ymir! He’s okay with us being together!” She yelled. _

_ “That’s awesome! I’m so happy for you!” I replied. “C’mon, we gotta get inside. Afterwards, I wanna know how everything went!” _

My heart dropped.  _ The warden was the uncle Krista would always talk about. _

“You keep looking at pictures of her. Was she your secret lover or something?” Eren asked in a rude tone.

“No,” I snapped back. “She was the warden’s niece  _ and  _ my friend.”

“No need to get pissy, bitch,” Eren growled. “I didn’t realize you had anyone you cared about outside of the circle.”

“I used to. She’s gone though, and I can’t ever talk to her again,” I sighed, not wanting to fight with Eren. “Any luck?”

“Nope,” Eren groaned, frustrated like I was earlier. “Fuck, we don’t much time left but I don’t know if we’d be able to bring him again.”

“Don’t worry, we still have twenty more minutes, that’s plenty of time to find everything,” I assured him.

Eren stood up and rested a hand on my cheek. “I was hoping for a bit more than information.”

He pulled me closer and wrapped his arm around my waist, connecting our lips and slipping his tongue into my mouth. He pushed me against the desk, cornering me with his body as he spread my legs open and kissed my neck sensually.

“Whoa, Eren, not here,” I spoke up as he bit onto my flesh.

“Come on, please? I wanna have some fun before we leave,” Eren whined. “You know, the fun we were having a few days ago before we were rudely interrupted by Jean.”

“We can’t though. What if someone walks in?” I reminded him. “That guard gave us an hour and we can just leave early to certify that we will not get caught by anyone.”

“But we can use it efficiently if we just relax for a bit,” Eren pulled a sultry tone of voice.

I sighed, knowing he wouldn’t give up anytime soon. “Okay. But just oral though. We can do more in the safety of our cell.”

Eren pulled something out from under his jumpsuit and handed it to me. “Put this on. I never actually got to rip it off of you.”

I grabbed the uniform from his hand and told him to turn around like I did last time. He obliged and I quickly got changed, socks and all. Eren even included a pair of girl’s panties, which to this day, I will never know how he got those. I poked him on the shoulder, prompting him to turn around and look at me.

Eren bit his lip. “Fuck, I’ll never get tired of looking at you in that.”

“You get five minutes,” I stipulated.

Eren got to his dirty work quickly as he kissed from my lips down my torso to my groin, exposing my cock with speediness and taking it into his mouth with an equally fast pace. His tongue danced on my sensitive skin, forcing groans out of me as I felt my dick stiffen in the wet cavities of his mouth.

“Fuck,” I moaned, my fingers lacing themselves into his hair. “Fuck, don’t stop.”

I could feel myself slipping away into his desires. He dressed me up as a schoolgirl and forced me into a compromising position with the promise of our goal becoming one step closer to being achieved. He turned me into a slutty high school student and he became my teacher.

I felt completely emasculated at that moment, but I didn’t care.

Eren pulled away, standing up slowly and leaning his body weight onto the desk and closing in on my face. “I think our five minutes are up, Armin.”

Me, a moaning mess, offered to him, “Want five more?”

That smirk I knew all too well showed up as he nodded his head subtly. “Sure.”


	30. 69

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early update y'all! I'm actually working at a really nice pace so frequent updates are in your future. Also thank you for over 6k hits! Once I'm done writing and finalizing every chapter, I'll publish chapters every day until the final one has been published. Happy reading!

I wrapped my legs around Eren’s waist and pulled him closer to instigate the first of many kisses. My arms were wrapped around him and resting on the nape of his neck as Eren’s hands roamed the pleasure points on my body. I shivered at the initial touch of his fingers on my hardness and quickly took me to paradise as his grip tightened slightly and he began to stroke up and down, picking up the pace as my responses became louder and louder.

Eren then pulled away and covered my mouth with his hand, pressing into my lips firmly. “Make another noise and I won’t fuck you.”

Fear kicked in for me and I held in my cries. It wasn’t like I could just hike up my panties and leave him high and dry in an office we broke into. For one thing, I would have to walk out of there in a sailor suit meant for girls and getting made fun of by anyone who would have caught me. But also, I couldn’t risk Eren’s physical punishment for me walking away from him.

In the end, it’s always something that  _ I  _ did to warrant such a solution. I cause problems for Eren, and he graciously keeps me around despite how chaotic I was. He probably still hates me for it, but working to get on his good side was the least of my worries. That moment in the office was dedicated to us and our relationship growing to where it was before I cut him off months prior.

Eren released my mouth from his hand and kissed down my body to perform fellatio on me once more. His hands held my skirt up and as I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it to the floor. His saliva on my skin sent jolts through my body as I felt myself getting closer to orgasm.

Too close.

Eren pulled away and looked me dead in the eye. “Not yet, bitch.”

I was in too much of a daze to even fight him and I sloped back to catch my breath. “Sorry. You’re just so good at that.”

Eren planted his hands on the desk at either side of my body and leaned in closer until his nose was a centimetre from mine. “I’ve had enough practice to know what to do. Now, scoot closer to the edge of the desk.”

I was reluctant at first but eventually, let Eren hold onto me to keep me from falling off. The brunette held his fingers up to my mouth, his eyes commanding me to suck on them. When I wasn’t fast enough to respond, Eren opened my mouth and forced his fingers in and nearly triggered my gag reflex. I took over for him and stroked his fingers with my tongue to coat them in saliva.

Eren pulled his fingers away and brought them to my entrance, teasing it with the tip of his middle finger and invoking a reaction out of me. My reaction went further when his middle finger plunged into my backside, pumping in and out of me before adding a second finger and continuing with his thrusting.

My grip on the edge of the desk tightened as he fingered me faster, my reaction becoming stronger as his act went on. “Fuck!”

“Lower your voice,” Eren commanded. “ _ You _ were the one who was so concerned in the first place, remember? So keep quiet until I say you can speak up.”

I nodded my head and contained my emotions as Eren kept going. He expected a lot out of me in that office. Stay quiet, enjoy yourself, obey me and only me. And I was so willing to do all of those things for him. I wanted him to love me, no matter what I had to do or give up to get there.

Eren pulled his fingers out of me and kissed my lips, probably to silence even the slightest noise I was making. His kisses strolled from my lips down to my neck as he pulled the skirt I was wearing over my hips and down my legs, dropping it on the floor and leaving me in only the thigh-high socks. He sucked on my neck for a little bit before releasing me from his fangs and licking his lips.

“You taste so good,” he whispered into my ear.

I looked him up and down, noticing that he was still wearing his prison clothes. “Take them off, please?”

“ _ Someone’s _ a little bossy,” Eren replied but still did as I asked until he was fully unclothed in front of me.

Eren noticed that I was staring and helped me off the desk and onto my knees. “Go ham, brat.”

I nodded eagerly and reciprocated what Eren had given me earlier. I did whatever I could to trigger a sexually-fuelled reaction out of him but nothing I did was working. I wanted him to react the way I did, and his ability to keep his composure was making me jealous. His statement of having a ton of practice seemed to be an understatement.

_ Or does he just not find this sexy? _

I pulled away and stroked his erection with my hand, seeing that he was biting his bottom lip and emitting low humming noises as I jacked him off. I smirked up at him as I quickened my pace. “Don’t make so much noise,” I teased.

Eren curled an eyebrow at me as I kept smiling at him. Just as I was about to keep sucking his dick, he crouches in front of me, his teal eyes piercing into mine. With me on my knees sitting prone and him crouching above me, I was at a severe disadvantage to him.

“So,  _ that’s  _ how you wanna play it?” Eren’s eyes scanned my body before he grabbed the back of my head and forced me onto my back. “You’re such a brat.”

Eren flipped us around so that I was on top and he had his back to the floor. “Now turn around for me,” he instructed.

“Why would I do that–”

Eren cut me off by slapping my ass hard enough to leave a handprint. “Do as you’re told, or I’ll stop.”

I nodded and spun myself around so that I was looking at the lower half of his body, and Eren pulled me closer to him. He told me to start sucking, and not wanting to get in trouble, I leaned onto my forearms and started giving him a blowjob.

_ What on Earth is he planning? _

I quickly received my answer when I felt his tongue lick circles around my entrance. His fingernails dug into my thighs as I kept going, holding in every single noise of discomfort I could possibly make. I was trapped by his hands, unable to break free until he got what he wanted.

His fingers plunged into me once again as he started stroking my erection with a wet hand. I emanated moans from my body as I forced myself to shove Eren’s cock down to the back of my mouth while trying to not gag on him. His hands continued to ravage my genitals and backside, bringing me closer to my limit until I squeezed my eyes and felt myself pulsate until my high dwindled to a low.

I was about to pull away, but Eren moved his arms around and, with a strength I wasn’t even aware of, held me down by his hands and forced me to keep deep throating his cock. “Oh fuck, keep going.”

I kept going, even wrapping my hand around his erection and stroking him with that while stroking him with my mouth. I couldn’t see his reaction at all but from what I could hear, I was doing a good job, to say the least. The way he moaned and sighed as he squeezed and slapped my ass almost wanted me to go for another round.

Almost. Remember, I’m still human with limits. And I was still in the recoup period for my sexual pleasure.

Eren’s grip tightened as I heard him curse under his breath and felt him ejaculate into my mouth. He let me pull away but hissed at me not to swallow his liquor (his words, not mine.) After we untangled our bodies from our position, Eren crouched in front of me and whispered, “Stick your tongue out.”

I opened up and held my tongue out for him to look at, praying that I wouldn’t have to do this for much longer. I hated the way it tasted. Having his cum on my tastebuds grossed me out.

Eren leaned closer and kissed me, slipping his tongue into my mouth, then pulled away and licked his lips. “We had better get out of here.”

I stood up and grabbed my jumpsuit to put on, but Eren stopped me and passed over the very thing I had been dreading to wear again since I ripped it off my body: the schoolgirl outfit.

“Put this on,” he insisted.

I scrunched my nose in disgust. “No way, I feel like shit when I wear that–”

Eren cut me off by shoving me against the filing cabinet, making me hit my head, and growled through his teeth, “Put. It. On.”

I nodded and grabbed the outfit from his hands and put it on and with everything we had, we crept through the halls and back to the library to drop me off. Waiting outside though was Jean as he paced the floor and came running over when he caught a glimpse of me.

“Where did you go?” Jean asked. “And why are you limping in a schoolgirl outfit?”

“That’s not important,” I replied, handing over Gunther’s notes to him. “We got the stuff.”

“I didn’t think you would. That’s awesome! I’ll get this to him right away,” Jean said, ecstatic and about to run off.

Eren stopped him in his path and turned him around. “Armin needs to talk to you about something.”

Jean stared down at me expectantly with his eyebrows furrowed together on his forehead. “What’s up?”

I stepped closer, holding his hands in mine. “It’s about your request to have sex with me.”

His eyes lit up and he got on his knees for me, making the entire situation awkward for myself and Eren. “Please let it be what I wanna hear.”

I looked up at Eren, seeing that he was urging me to say what we were planning to Jean. I sighed and looked down at Jean and responded reluctantly with, “I can.”

“Wait, really–”

“I can, but Eren has to join.”


End file.
